Representativeness of the social partners in European cross-industry social dialogue.
Date: 2023-12-07
Institutions: Eurofound
Subjects: EU Member State, industrial policy, labour relations, professional association, research report, social dialogue (EU), social partners, workers' representation, working conditions

RESEARCH REPORT

Industrial relations and social dialogue
Representativeness of the social 
partners in European cross-industry 
social dialogue

Representativeness of the social 
partners in European cross-industry 
social dialogue

European Foundation 
for the Improvement of 
Living and Working 
Conditions

When citing this report, please use the following wording: 
Eurofound (2023), Representativeness of the social partners in European cross-industry social dialogue, Sectoral social 
dialogue series, Dublin.  

Authors: Inga Pavlovaite and Peter Kerckhofs 

Research manager: Peter Kerckhofs 

Eurofound project: Representativeness studies (170203) 

Provider: Network of Eurofound Correspondents (see Annex 7)  

PDF: 

ISBN 978-92-897-2374-9

      doi:10.2806/92075

TJ-03-23-441-EN-N 

This report and any associated materials are available online at https://eurofound.link/ef22020 

It is part of Eurofound’s Sectoral social dialogue series. See the full series at https://eurofound.link/efs006 

© European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, 2023  

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Research carried out prior to the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union on 31 January 2020, and published 
subsequently, may include data relating to the 28 EU Member States. Following this date, research only takes into 
account the 27 EU Member States (EU28 minus the UK), unless specified otherwise. 

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Contents 
Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1 

Institutional basis for the assessment of representativeness of European-level  

cross-industry social partners ......................................................................................................................1 
Agreements and other achievements of European cross-industry social partners ...........................................2 
Methodology, workflow and tripartite approach of this study ..........................................................................4 
1.  EU workforce and companies represented in cross-industry social dialogue ............................ 7 
1.1. National workforce in the EU27 ..................................................................................................................7 
1.2. Companies in the EU27 ...............................................................................................................................9 
2. National level of interest representation .................................................................................. 12 
2.1. National-level trade union landscape across the EU27 ............................................................................ 13 
2.2. National employer organisation landscape across the EU27 ................................................................... 14 
2.3. Cross-industry social dialogue (and collective bargaining) structures in the EU27 .................................. 14 
2.4. Cross-industry social partners in the EU27 ............................................................................................... 16 
3. Overview of the representativeness of the European cross-industry social partners ................. 18 
3.1. Representativeness of ETUC ..................................................................................................................... 19 
3.2. Representativeness of CEC European Managers ...................................................................................... 22 
3.3. Representativeness of Eurocadres ........................................................................................................... 25 
3.4. National cross-industry trade unions not represented by ETUC, CEC European  

Managers or Eurocadres ........................................................................................................................... 28 

3.5. Other European organisations with representative trade unions  

at national cross-industry level in some Member States ......................................................................... 30 
3.6. Representativeness of BusinessEurope .................................................................................................... 33 
3.7. Representativeness of SMEunited ............................................................................................................ 36 
3.8. Representativeness of SGI Europe............................................................................................................ 40 
3.9. National employer organisations and business associations not represented by BusinessEurope, 

SMEunited or SGI Europe ......................................................................................................................... 44 

3.10. Other European organisations with representativeness of employers  

at national cross-industry level in some Member States ......................................................................... 48 
3.11. Effective participation in the EU cross-industry social dialogue ............................................................. 51 
3.12. EU cross-industry social partners’ mandate and capacity to negotiate agreements ............................. 52 
ETUC ............................................................................................................................................................. 54 
CEC European Managers .............................................................................................................................. 55 
Eurocadres .................................................................................................................................................... 55 
BusinessEurope ............................................................................................................................................ 55 
SMEunited .................................................................................................................................................... 56 
SGI Europe .................................................................................................................................................... 56 

3.13. Overview of the representativeness of the European cross-industry organisations  

(EU social partners and other organisations) ........................................................................................... 57 
4. Conclusions .............................................................................................................................. 61 
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................. 65 
Annex 1: Country pages (EU27) .................................................................................................... 67 
Annex 2: List of all cross-industry trade unions, EU27 ................................................................. 122 
Annex 3: List of all cross-industry employer organisations/business associations, EU27 ............. 128 
Annex 4: Cross-sector-relatedness of national member organisations of EU social partners and 

other European associations identified in this study (CESI and Eurochambres) .................... 135 

 
 
Annex 5: Bipartite and tripartite cross-industry social dialogue structures 

 in the Member States ......................................................................................................... 143 
Annex 6: 2022 update of workforce and company numbers ....................................................... 156 
Annex 7: Network of Eurofound Correspondents ....................................................................... 157 

 
 
 
 
 
List of tables  
Table 1: Agreements concluded by EU cross-industry social partners and other forms of outputs ...... 3 
Table 2: Number of people in employment, number of employees and employment  

rate in the 20–64 age group, EU27, 2019 ................................................................................... 7 
Table 3: Number of enterprises, EU27, 2019 .......................................................................................... 9 
Table 4: Companies by size, EU27, 2019 ............................................................................................... 11 
Table 5: Number of representative cross-industry social partner organisations per Member State ... 12 
Table 6: Sectoral coverage of the representative social partner organisations  

in the 27 Member States .......................................................................................................... 13 
Table 7: Member States with collective bargaining at cross-industry level .......................................... 15 
Table 8: State of social dialogue at cross-industry level, EU27 ............................................................. 15 
Table 9: Breakdown of ETUC membership numbers, by Member State .............................................. 19 
Table 10: Cross-sector-relatedness of ETUC’s 74 nationally affiliated organisations (see Annex 4) .... 20 
Table 11: Categories of workers represented by ETUC member unions .............................................. 21 
Table 12: Decision-making structures of ETUC member unions ........................................................... 22 
Table 13: Breakdown of CEC European Managers membership numbers, by Member State ............. 23 
Table 14: Cross-sector-relatedness of the 14 national affiliated organisations  

of CEC European Managers (see Annex 4) ............................................................................... 23 
Table 15: Categories of workers represented by CEC European Managers member unions ............... 24 
Table 16: Decision-making structures of CEC European Managers member unions ............................ 25 
Table 17: Breakdown of Eurocadres membership unions, by Member State ...................................... 26 
Table 18: Cross-sector-relatedness of the 49 national affiliates of Eurocadres (see Annex 4)............. 26 
Table 19: Categories of workers represented by Eurocadres member unions ..................................... 27 
Table 20: Decision-making structures of Eurocadres member unions ................................................. 28 
Table 21: List of national representative cross-sector trade unions not represented  

in the current European social dialogue structures .................................................................... 29 
Table 22: Breakdown of CESI membership numbers, by Member State .............................................. 31 
Table 23: Cross-sector-relatedness of the 27 national (directly and indirectly) affiliated  

organisations of CESI (see Annex 4) ............................................................................................ 32 
Table 24: Categories of workers represented by CESI member unions ................................................ 32 
Table 25: Decision-making structures of CESI member unions ............................................................. 33 
Table 26: Breakdown of BusinessEurope membership numbers, by Member State ........................... 34 
Table 27: Cross-sector-relatedness of the 32 national affiliated organisations  

(employer organisations and business associations) of BusinessEurope (see Annex 4) ............ 35 
Table 28: Categories of workers represented by BusinessEurope member organisations .................. 35 
Table 29: Decision-making structures of BusinessEurope member organisations ............................... 36 
Table 30: Breakdown of SMEunited membership numbers, by Member State ................................... 37 
Table 31: Cross-sector-relatedness of SMEunited’s 36 national affiliates (employer  

organisations and business associations) (see Table A7 in Annex 4) .......................................... 38 
Table 32: Categories of workers represented by SMEunited member organisations .......................... 39 
Table 33: Decision-making structures of SMEunited member organisations ....................................... 39 
Table 34: Breakdown of SGI Europe membership numbers, by Member State ................................... 41 
Table 35: Cross-sector-relatedness of SGI Europe’s 24 national affiliates (employer  

organisations and business associations) ................................................................................... 42 
Table 36: Categories of workers represented by SGI Europe member organisations .......................... 43 

 
 
Table 37: Decision-making structures of SGI Europe member organisations ....................................... 43 
Table 38: List of national representative cross-sector employer organisations/ 

business associations not affiliated to the current European social dialogue structures ..... 45 
Table 39: Breakdown of Eurochambres membership numbers, by Member State ............................. 48 
Table 40: Cross-sector-relatedness of 25 Eurochambres national affiliates (employer  

organisations and business associations) .............................................................................. 49 
Table 41: Categories of companies represented by Eurochambres member organisations ................ 50 
Table 42: Decision-making structures of Eurochambres member organisations ................................. 51 
Table 43: Participation in the EU cross-industry social dialogue meetings, 2021–2022 ...................... 51 
Table 44: Trade union participation in the EU cross-industry social dialogue,  

2021–2022 and 2018–2019 ................................................................................................... 52 

Table 45: Employers’ participation in the EU cross-industry social dialogue,  

2021–2022 and 2018–2019 ................................................................................................... 52 
Table 46: Overview of the representativeness of the European cross-industry organisations ............ 57 
Table 47: Comparison of the European cross-industry social partners in 2013 and 2022 ................... 59 
Table 48: Number of sectors covered by ETUC member organisations ............................................. 135 
Table 49: Number of sectors covered by CEC European Managers’ national affiliates ...................... 136 
Table 50: Number of sectors covered by Eurocadres member organisations .................................... 136 
Table 51: Number of sectors covered by CESI nationally affiliated organisations (direct members) . 137 
Table 52: Cross-sector-relatedness of some of the CESI member organisations  

(clarifications provided by CESI) .......................................................................................... 138 
Table 53: Number of sectors covered by BusinessEurope’s national affiliates .................................. 139 
Table 54: Number of sectors covered by SMEunited national affiliates ............................................. 140 
Table 55: Number of sectors covered by SGI Europe national affiliates ............................................. 141 
Table 56: Number of sectors covered by Eurochambres’ national affiliates ...................................... 142 
Table 57: Number of people in employment, number of employees and employment rate  

in the 20–64 age group and number of enterprises (2022 update of Tables 2 and 3) ........ 156 

 
 
 
 
List of figures  
Figure 1: Key workforce statistics (% of the workforce) ......................................................................... 8 
Figure 2: Enterprises by size class, EU27, 2019 ..................................................................................... 10 
Figure 3: Proportion of employees working in enterprises of various sizes, EU27, 2019 ..................... 10 
Figure 4: Membership domain of European cross-industry trade unions, 2013 .................................. 59 
Figure 5: Membership domain of European cross-industry employer organisations, 2013................. 60 
Figure 6: Conclusions on the representativeness of European cross-industry social partners  

and other organisations, 2013 ............................................................................................... 60 

 
 
 
 
Introduction 

Representativeness is an indicator of the legitimacy and efficiency of European social dialogue. The 
first section of this introduction summarises how cross-industry European social dialogue has 
historically been interwoven with the assessment of the representativeness of social partners. The 
second section highlights the achievements of cross-industry European social dialogue. The process 
of how representativeness was measured, analysed and cross-checked is described in the third 
section of the introduction. 

Institutional basis for the assessment of representativeness of 
European-level cross-industry social partners 
European cross-industry social dialogue and the representativeness assessed in the current study are 
rooted in the common history of the development of a European industrial relations framework. 

The original agreement of 31 October 1991 between the European Trade Union Confederation 
(ETUC) and Union des Industries de la Communauté européenne (UNICE) became the Agreement on 
Social Policy of 2 February 1992. This was annexed to the Maastricht Treaty by the Social Protocol, 
and later became first Articles 138 and 139 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (EC) 
(Welz, 2008) and then Articles 153, 154 and 155 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European 
Union (TFEU). The first Commission communication from 1993 clarified the implementation of this 
agreement and defined how it was to take shape in the context of EU-level cross-industry social 
dialogue (European Commission, 1993). It acknowledged that the diversity of practice across the 
Member States meant that no single model could be replicated at European level, and that the 
different industrial relations systems have all taken many years to grow and develop. The 
Commission committed to promoting the development of linking structures between the social 
partners to help improve the process. The next milestone was Communication 448/1996, which 
acknowledged that participation in the Val Duchesse social dialogue was based on mutual 
recognition of the parties; it committed to updating the data collected on the representativeness of 
interprofessional organisations in a similar study in 1992 (European Commission, 1996). 

Next, in 1998, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) set key parameters in its ruling of 17 June 1998 of 
the Court of First Instance (CJEU, 1998). The judgment confirmed that it was the responsibility of the 
Commission and the Council to ascertain whether the signatories of an agreement are sufficiently 
representative; the Commission and the Council correctly took the view that the ‘collective 
representativeness’ of the signatories of the framework agreement was sufficient in relation to the 
content of the agreement. 

In November 1998, a cooperation agreement signed between UNICE (now BusinessEurope) and 
UEAPME (now SMEunited) recognised the advantages of joining forces to ‘defend business interests’ 
and contribute to the establishment of an environment fostering competitivity, growth and 
employment (UNICE, 1998). The agreement granted the two employers’ representatives equal rights 
in preparatory meetings, although neither with a right of veto. The two organisations were to strive 
to reach a consensus on positions in the context of social dialogue, while fully respecting the 
autonomy of UNICE and UEAPME. Under the terms of the agreement, UNICE pledged to consult with 
UEAPME before expressing positions in the name of employers during negotiations and other 
meetings on social dialogue. 

1 

 
In its opinion of 1997, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) also considered the issue 
of social dialogue representativeness (EESC, 1997). The EESC felt that a representative organisation 
should satisfy four formal criteria and that every representative organisation that fulfils the criteria 
should be admitted to the talks at the appropriate negotiation level. 

In a series of subsequent communications, the Commission further defined the role and shape of 
cross-sector social dialogue. It articulated the representativeness of social partners (European 
Commission, 1998). This was taken further by proposing a Council decision establishing the Tripartite 
Social Summit for Growth and Employment (European Commission, 2002). The Commission later 
postulated a requirement to further extend and update the representativeness studies (European 
Commission, 2004). 

The latest European Commission communication (European Commission, 2023), based on its 
consultations with the social partners, proposed a set of measures to strengthen European social 
dialogue by modernising its structures, encouraging and supporting social partner agreements, 
strengthening the involvement of social partners in EU policymaking and making the Commission’s 
financial and technical support more effective. 

Agreements and other achievements of European cross-industry 
social partners 
Over the years, the EU cross-industry social partners have achieved a great deal. Many common 
projects, joint opinions, frameworks of action and other joint outputs were agreed upon. The most 
important of these are the binding agreements. 

Table 1 shows four generally binding agreements implemented through a Council Directive as set out 
in Article 155 of the TFEU. The right column lists six autonomous agreements implemented by the EU 
social partners through their member organisations in the Member States. The lower section of the 
table indicates the number of other types of output for each period. The cross-industry EU social 
partners have produced more than 100 texts over the years. 

2 

 
 
 
Table 1: Agreements concluded by EU cross-industry social partners and other forms of outputs 

Four agreements implemented through a 
Council Decision (Article 155 of the TFEU) 

Six autonomous agreements implemented by the national 
member organisations of the EU social partners 

1995 
1997 
1999 
2009 

Parental leave 
Part-time work 
Fixed-time work 
Parental leave (revised) 

2002 
2004 
2007 
2012 
2017 
2020 

Agreements and other types 
of outputs (per year) 
Agreements 
Declarations 
Joint opinions 
Frameworks of action 
Follow-up reports 
Tools 
Procedural texts 
Policy orientations 
Total 

Total 
number 
10 
17 
40 
3 
23 
2 
1 
5 
101 

1980–
1989 
0 
0 
3 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
3 

Telework 
Combating stress 
Combating violence and harassment 
Inclusive labour markets 
Active ageing and intergenerational approach 
Digitalisation 
1990–
1999 
3 
3 
21 
1 
0 
1 
1 
0 
30 

2000–
2009 
4 
5 
6 
2 
16 
1 
0 
2 
36 

2010–
2019 
2 
7 
6 
0 
7 
0 
0 
0 
22 

2020–
2023 
1 
2 
4 
0 
0 
0 
0 
3 
10 

Source: Social dialogue texts database – Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion 

Commitments for bipartite activities of European-level cross-industry social dialogue are made in a 
multiannual work programme. The 2022–2024 work programme of the cross-industry social partners 
announced the start of negotiations on telework and the right to disconnect that could be 
implemented via a Council Directive in line with Article 155 of the TFEU, and thus made legally 
generally binding (ETUC et al, 2022). This underscores the importance of the current study, which 
updates Eurofound’s 2014 cross-sector representativeness study (Eurofound, 2014). 

Besides these bipartite achievements of cross-industry social dialogue, there has also been 
involvement in the Tripartite Social Summit (as established in Article 152 of the TFEU), which includes 
the European cross-industry social partners, the president of the European Commission, the 
president of the European Council, the current presidency of the Council of the EU and the Member 
States holding the following two presidencies. As such, all relevant European institutions are 
represented, and through the subsequent presidencies continuity is ensured. 

In the tripartite context, the dedicated hearings and consultations (based on Article 153 of the TFEU) 
should  also  be  mentioned,  even  though  these  are  open  to  European  social  partners  at  both  cross-
industry and sectoral levels – although, at sectoral level, they are open only to union federations that 
are  members  of  a  cross-sector  social  partner  organisation.1  In  this  respect,  a  distinction  is  made 
between formal two-stage social partner consultations and dedicated hearings. 

•  The TFEU (Article 154) obliges the Commission to consult social partners on proposals in the social 

policy field (i.e. falling under Article 153 of the TFEU), to allow social partners to negotiate 
agreements, if they so wish. 

1 Thus, CESI is excluded from dedicated hearings. 

3 

 
 
 
 
•  Since the launch of the New Start for Social Dialogue, the Commission has introduced dedicated 
hearings as a new way of consulting European social partners on initiatives for which the TFEU 
does not require a two-stage consultation. 

The cross-industry social partners are also involved in the European Semester process, as well as at a 
more technical level in the employment and social protection committees. 

Methodology, workflow and tripartite approach of this study 
The aim of this study is to determine the representativeness of relevant national and supranational 
social partners – the trade unions and employer organisations – at cross-industry level across the 
EU27. The EU workforce and their employers are presented in the first chapter. 

The second chapter is based on country pages describing cross-industry industrial relations in each of 
the Member States, which can be found in Annex 1. The third chapter assesses the 
representativeness of the European cross-industry social partner organisations based on the criteria 
defined by the European Commission (1993). Definitions of concepts and further specific 
methodological considerations will be provided at the start of each of these three chapters. General 
methodological considerations are addressed in the remainder of this section. 

Eurofound is a tripartite organisation, with delegates from trade unions, employer organisations and 
governments from each of the 27 Member States on its Management Board. European cross-industry 
social partner organisations are also represented in Eurofound’s statutory structures, as is the case 
for two other European agencies: the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) and 
the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop). 

This study was also conducted with a tripartite methodology. It started with a kick-off meeting with 
delegates from the European Commission and EU social partner organisations on 27 March 2020. In 
this meeting, the methodology was presented and discussed, allowing the organisations being 
analysed in the study to put forward suggestions and considerations that could help to fine-tune the 
data collection approach and analyses and tailor them to the specificities of the reality at cross-
industry level. 

Built into the process were several opportunities for European social partners and/or their national 
affiliates to check interim findings or draft versions of various sections of the report. The aim of this 
triangulation, including comments from ETUC, CEC European Managers, Eurocadres, BusinessEurope, 
SMEunited and SGI Europe, as well as CESI and Eurochambres, was to deliver an unbiased report that 
also reflected differing views, from both well-established and alternative perspectives. 

The data collection for this study began in September 2020 with an extensive questionnaire 
completed by members of the Network of Eurofound Correspondents (NEC) in each of the 27 
Member States. An internal check for completeness and consistency provided further clarifications in 
the national reports between December 2020 and April 2021, allowing all national reports to be 
updated by July 2021 and to be gathered in a database in the second half of 2021. From this, 
overview tables were developed and presented to the European social partners for comments in 
February and March 2022. Following the receipt of comments, the draft of the report was finalised in 
2022. A second series of bilateral EU social partner consultations on certain parts of the draft took 
place in September and October 2022. 

In March and April 2023, the completed draft was shared for consultation. In June 2023, the final draft 
entered  a  formal  written  evaluation  procedure  in  the  Eurofound  tripartite  advisory  committee, 

4 

 
including delegates from most of the organisations included in the study. This evaluation included an 
online discussion, in which the study was presented by the authors and debated by delegates from the 
organisations  included  in  the  study  (as  well  as  from  CESI  and  Eurochambres).  Following  these 
procedures, the report was subjected to further editing and was published on the Eurofound website 
in late 2023. 

The  data  collection  process  combines  top-down  and  bottom-up  screening  of  the  national  cross-
industry industrial relations landscape. The top-down approach assesses the representativeness of all 
the national affiliates of the European social partners. This determines if they are organised at cross-
sectoral level and whether they are considered representative at national level. 

The bottom-up screening looks for any other national trade unions or employer organisations at cross-
industry  level.  This  allows  other  national  social  partner  organisation  to  be  identified  that  are  not 
represented in the European cross-industry social dialogue. On the basis of these data, an assessment 
is made of  the proportion of relevant (i.e. representative) national actors  represented in  European 
cross-industry  social  dialogue  (see  Section  3.12).  Conclusions  are  then  drawn  with  regard  to  the 
representativeness of the European social partners. 

The second chapter brings the bottom-up and top-down approaches together, based on country pages 
that  are  included  in  Annex  1.  This  is  a  challenging  exercise  for  two  reasons.  There  are  nationally 
affiliated  organisations  and  European  social  partner  organisations  that  are  not  or  may  not  be 
considered representative at national cross-industry level, that may not be representative at all or that 
may be considered representative at sectoral level but not at cross-industry level. Nevertheless, these 
national affiliates do contribute to the representativeness of the EU cross-industry social dialogue and 
are therefore included (marked in orange in the country pages; see Annex 1). 

The second reason why the presentation of country pages in this study is challenging is that 
representativeness at cross-industry level can depend on different types of criteria or simply on 
mutual recognition. In only a few Member States – namely Austria, Belgium, France, Greece, 
Luxembourg and Spain – representativeness depends on the capacity to negotiate collective 
bargaining agreements at cross-industry level. For most Member States, the status of representative 
cross-industry social partners is determined by their participation in tripartite (or bipartite) social 
dialogue structures at cross-industry level. This participation can be based on the fulfilment of certain 
criteria or on mutual recognition. The criteria can relate to the membership strength, the number of 
sectors organised or the proportion of elected delegates in representation structures. In some 
Member States, namely Denmark and Sweden, the representativeness status of social partners is 
based on tradition and mutual recognition. 

Finally, there are countries (such as Italy) where some organisations are considered to be the most 
representative, while a second group that is also representative and participates in tripartite social 
dialogue structures is not considered as important as the first group. This diversity and complexity in 
national industrial relations makes it challenging to institute a uniform approach in presenting the 
national country pages. 

In the third chapter of this report, the representativeness of the European social partner 
organisations is first expressed based on their affiliated national organisations and their membership 
strength and position in the national industrial relations setting. Second, all the national cross-
industry social partners that are not represented in the European cross-industry social dialogue are 
listed. Then an investigation is made into whether there are any other European associations with 
representativeness at cross-industry level in some Member States. Following this, a distinction can be 
5 

 
made between the collective representativeness of all European social partner organisations 
together and the individual representativeness of each organisation separately. 

The contribution of each European social partner to the collective representativeness is determined 
by indicating which national member organisations are represented in the cross-industry European 
social dialogue by only this European organisation. This unique representativeness can then be 
compared with the number of national social partner organisations that are also represented in the 
European cross-industry social dialogue by other European social partners. The fifth and final way 
that representativeness is analysed in this study considers the participation of national delegates in 
cross-industry social dialogue meetings, in comparison with the Member States in which European 
social partner organisations have affiliated national organisations. 

6 

 
 
 
1.  EU workforce and companies represented in 

cross-industry social dialogue 

There are some 23 million companies in the EU27 that offer jobs to nearly 164 million employees. Of 
the 190 million total people who are employed in the EU27, some 25 million are self-employed. 

1.1. National workforce in the EU27 
As shown in Table 2, some 190 million people in the EU27 were in employment in 2019, most of them 
as employees. 

Table 2: Number of people in employment, number of employees and employment rate in the 20–64 
age group, EU27, 2019 

Member 
State 

% of EU 
workforce 

No. people in employment  
aged 20–64 (000s) 

No. employees  
aged 20–64 (000s) 

Employment rate of  
20–64 age group (%) 

AT 

BE 

BG 
CY 

CZ 

DE 

DK 

EE 

EL 
ES 

FI 

FR 

HR 

HU 

IE 
IT 

LT 

LU 

LV 

MT 

NL 
PO 

PT 

RO 

SE 

SI 

SK 
EU27 

2 

2 

2 
0.2 

3 

21 

1 

0.3 

2 
10 

1 

14 

1 

2 

1 
12 

1 

0.1 

0.5 

0.1 

4 
8 

2 

4 

2 

1 

1 
100 

4,148 

4,708 

3,091 
400 

5,126 

39,424 

2,637 

625 

3,785 
19,417 

2,378 

26,513 

1,631 

4,538 

2,174 
22,337 

1,314 

284 

862 

245 

8,159 
15,853 

4,571 

7,638 

4,740 

953 

2,609 
190,164 

3,670 

4,065 

2,795 
351 

4,293 

36,376 

2,426 

552 

2,631 
16,432 

2,114 

23,190 

1,443 

3,951 

1,893 
17,699 

1,162 

260 

763 

208 

6,730 
12,882 

3,968 

6,526 

4,358 

836 

2,156 
163,728 

76.8 

70.5 

74.3 
75.7 

80.3 

79.6 

78.3 

80.5 

60.8 
68 

76.2 

72.3 

66.7 

77.6 

75 
63.5 

78.2 

72.8 

77.3 

76.8 

81 
72.3 

75.5 

65.1 

81.5 

75.9 

75.6 
72.7 

Note: A 2022 update of these numbers is included in Annex 6. 

Source: Eurostat, Employment and activity by sex and age – annual data [LFSI_EMP_A__custom_4546821], 
accessed 16 January 2023 

7 

 
The largest workforces are found in the larger Member States of Germany, France and Italy, followed 
by Spain and Poland. About two-thirds of the EU workforce is employed in these five Member States. 
The employees in Germany correspond to 21% of the EU workforce; in France they correspond to 
14%, in Italy 12%, in Spain 10% and in Poland 8%. 

On average in the EU, 73% of the population aged 20–64 was in employment in 2019. The highest 
proportions of the population aged 20–64 employed were in Sweden (82%) and the Netherlands 
(81%). In contrast, only 61% and 64% of the population aged 20–64 in Greece and Italy, respectively, 
were in employment – well below the EU27 average of 73%. Among the seven EU27 countries with 
the largest workforce, only Germany and the Netherlands were above the EU27 average, with 80% of 
their population aged 20–64 in employment (Table 2). 

In some countries, there are different social partners for private and public sector employees, and 
this breakdown can be seen in Figure 1. About 79% of the EU workforce is employed in the private 
sector and 21% in the public sector. 

The gender breakdown in Figure 1 shows that the EU workforce is 46% female and 54% male. The 
proportion of people who are self-employed in the EU workforce is about 13%, while the rest (86%) 
are employees. 

The 6% of employees who are in management positions is relevant as there are specific trade union 
organisations for employees in this specific type of professional position. 

Figure 1: Key workforce statistics (% of the workforce) 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents data; Eurostat, Employment by sex, age and professional status 
(1 000) [LFSA_EGAPS] 

8 

 
 
1.2. Companies in the EU27 
As shown in Table 3, in 2019 there were some 27 million companies in the EU27, ranging from 
around 30,000 in Luxembourg and Malta to over four million in Italy and over three million each in 
France, Germany and Spain. 

Table 3: Number of enterprises, EU27, 2019 

Member State 
AT 
BE 
BG 
CY 
CZ 
DE 
DK 
EE 
EL 
ES 
FI 
FR 
HR 
HU 
IE 
IT 
LT 
LU 
LV 
MT 
NL 
PO 
PT 
RO 
SE 
SI 
SK 
EU27 

Number of enterprises 

332,755 
183,433 
346,634 
107,062 
1,212,831 
3,483,691 
316,970 
133,784 
265,212 
3,068,228 
361,069 
3,853,467 
149,324 
824,887 
270,344 
4,404,501 
105,093 
33,741 
102,942 
31,766 
1,899,940 
2,150,544 
1,278,200 
576,684 
1,143,376 
197,013 
332,870 
27,166,361 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents data 

Most companies in the EU27 are small (Figures 2 and 3). Indeed, the vast majority (92%) of 
enterprises have nine employees or fewer. In contrast, the very large companies (250+ employees) 
form only 0.2% of all enterprises. At the same time, the very large companies employ most (31%) of 
all employees (Table 4). This is followed by 28% employed in very small companies (fewer than 10 
employees). 

9 

 
 
Figure 2: Enterprises by size class, EU27, 2019 

Figure 3: Proportion of employees working in enterprises of various sizes, EU27, 2019 

Note: A 2022 update of these numbers is included in Annex 6. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents 

10 

 
 
 
 
Table 4: Companies by size, EU27, 2019 

Member 
State 

AT 
BE 
BG 
CY 
CZ 
DE 
DK 
EE 
EL 
ES 
FI 
FR 
HR 
HU 
IE 
IT 
LT 
LU 
LV 
MT 
NL 
PO 
PT 
RO 
SE 
SI 
SK 
EU27 

Proportion of enterprises by number of employees (%) 
20–49 
employees 
3.8 
0.0 
2.6 
0.0 
1.5 
0.0 
0.0 
0.0 
0.0 
0.0 
1.7 
0.0 
2.6 
0.0 
2.5 
0.0 
6.0 
3.8 
3.4 
2.2 
1.1 
0.0 
1.1 
0.0 
0.0 
0.0 
2.4 
1.3 

50–249 
employees 
1.6 
3.0 
1.3 
0.7 
1.0 
1.9 
1.2 
0.9 
1.5 
0.8 
0.8 
0.0 
1.2 
0.6 
1.2 
0.5 
3.8 
2.0 
1.7 
1.1 
0.4 
0.7 
0.5 
1.5 
0.5 
1.1 
1.4 
1.2 

10–19 
employees 
7.1 
15.1 
4.3 
4.3 
2.1 
8.6 
6.1 
5.1 
11.6 
5.0 
2.9 
3.8 
5.0 
3.9 
4.2 
4.5 
8.3 
6.4 
5.4 
3.7 
5.2 
2.4 
2.1 
8.5 
3.0 
n.a. 
3.4 
5.5 

250 or more 
employees 
0.3 
n.a. 
0.2 
0.1 
0.2 
0.4 
0.3 
0.1 
0.2 
0.2 
0.2 
0.1 
0.3 
0.1 
0.2 
0.1 
0.5 
0.5 
0.3 
0.2 
0.4 
0.2 
0.1 
0.3 
0.1 
0.2 
0.3 
0.2 

0–9 
employees 
87.1 
82.0 
91.7 
94.9 
95.2 
89.1 
92.4 
93.9 
86.7 
94.0 
94.3 
96.0 
90.9 
95.3 
91.9 
94.9 
81.5 
87.3 
89.3 
92.7 
93.0 
96.7 
96.2 
89.7 
96.4 
98.7 
92.6 
92.0 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents data 

0–9 
employees 
n.a. 
n.a. 
32 
38 
32 
14 
14 
33 
28 
31 
26 
25 
50 
38 
26 
25 
18 

10–19 
employees 
n.a. 
n.a. 
10 
20 
0 
19 
17 
25 
28 
19 
10 
41 
9 
19 
9 
26 
9 

26 
30 

41 
28 
22 
23 
35 
18 
28 

10 
10 

27 
11 
22 
23 

8 
17 

Proportion of employees in different enterprises by size (%) 
20–49 
employees 
n.a. 
n.a. 
14 
0 
0 
0 
0 

50–249 
employees 
n.a. 
n.a. 
23 
17 
24 
22 
16 

250 or more 
employees 
n.a. 
n.a. 
21 
25 
44 
46 
52 
20 
26 
35 
30 
34 
8 
28 
33 
31 
28 

29 
23 

32 
27 
36 
35 
37 
39 
31 

11 

22 

18 
15 
21 
0 
23 
16 
20 
18 
29 

22 
23 

0 
20 
20 
19 
28 
23 
19 

0 
0 
13 
0 
11 
0 
13 
0 
15 

13 
14 

0 
14 
0 
0 
0 
13 
6 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2. National level of interest representation 

This chapter focuses on existing cross-industry social partner organisations at national level across 
the EU27. 

Table 5 shows the numbers of trade unions and employer organisations that are deemed 
representative at cross-industry level. In total, the study identified 82 such representative trade 
unions at national level and 106 representative employer organisations and/or business associations 
in each of the EU Member States. 

Table 5: Number of representative cross-industry social partner organisations per Member State 

Trade     
unions 
1 
3 
2 
3 
2 
3 
5 
1 
1 
4 
3 
5 
3 
6 
1 
3 
3 
3 
1 
3 
3 
3 
2 
5 
4 
7 
2 
82 

Member 
State 
AT 
BE 
BG 
CY 
CZ 
DE 
DK 
EE 
EL 
ES 
FI 
FR 
HR 
HU 
IE 
IT 
LT 
LU 
LV 
MT 
NL 
PL 
PT 
RO 
SE 
SI 
SK 
EU27 

Employer 
organisations 
2 
6 
5 
2 
2 
7 
6 
1 
6 
4 
3 
3 
1 
5 
1 
14 
6 
1 
1 
3 
2 
6 
2 
3 
6 
4 
4 
106 

Note: Blue cells indicate social partner organisations that are recognised as representative at cross-industry 
level. Grey cells indicate organisations that are recognised as representative for some regions in Spain, but not 
for the entire country. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents data 

An important consideration is the membership domain as a cross-industry social partner. The 
number of sectors covered by each organisation is presented in detail in Annex 4. The figures in Table 
6 indicate how many organisations cover how many sectors. More than half of the 82 nationally 
representative trade unions cover more than 30 sectors, in most Member States. Significantly fewer 
trade unions cover between 10 and 29 sectors, and 16 unions cover fewer than 10 sectors. The 
picture on the employer organisations/business associations side is more diverse. Here, the numbers 

12 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
of employer organisations/business associations are almost equally split between those covering 
more than 30 sectors, those covering between 10 and 29 sectors and those covering fewer than 10 
sectors. 

Table 6: Sectoral coverage of the representative social partner organisations in the 27 Member 
States 

Type of social partner 
organisation 

Covering more than 30 
sectors 

Covering  
10–29 sectors 

Covering fewer than 
10 sectors (0–9) 

All representative trade 
unions at national level (82) 

46 (in 23 Member 
States) 

21 (in 13 Member 
States) 

15 (in 9 Member 
States) 

All representative employer 
organisations/business 
associations at national level 
(106)2 

36 (in 24 Member 
States) 

34 (in 19 Member 
States) 

36 (in 17 Member 
States) 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents data 

2.1. National-level trade union landscape across the EU27 
This study identified 82 trade unions that are considered representative in the national industrial 
relations setting at cross-industry level. The number of trade unions ranges from seven in Slovenia 
and five in Denmark to just a single cross-industry trade union in Austria, Ireland and Latvia. 

•  There is only one cross-industry trade union in three Member States: Austria, Ireland and Latvia. 

•  There are different cross-industry trade unions for blue- and white-collar employees in six 

Member States: Estonia, Finland, Hungary, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. 

•  There are different cross-industry trade unions for management employees in five Member 

States: Denmark, France, Greece, Italy and Spain. 

•  There are different cross-industry trade unions for public and private sector employees in eight 
Member States: Croatia, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Spain. 

•  There are different cross-industry trade unions for different ideological orientations in 11 

Member States: Belgium, Cyprus, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the 
Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. 

•  There are other reasons for pluralism/fragmentation in eight Member States: Bulgaria, Czechia, 

France, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Romania and Slovenia. 

A further 19 non-representative trade unions at cross-industry level were included in the study 
because they are members of one of the recognised European social partners (the European Trade 
Union Confederation (ETUC), Eurocadres or CEC European Managers). And five unions were checked 
for relevance but were found to not be representative at cross-industry level. Out of 48 non-
representative trade unions, 10 are members of ETUC, eight are members of Eurocadres and eight 
are members of CEC European Managers. 

2 For 10 employer organisations/business associations, the sectoral coverage could not be identified. 

13 

 
 
2.2. National employer organisation landscape across the EU27 
This study identified 106 employer organisations/business associations that are considered 
representative in their countries’ industrial relations settings at cross-industry level. The Member 
States with the largest numbers of cross-industry employer organisations/business associations are 
Italy (10) and Germany (seven). 

reasons  behind 

The 
associations/employer organisations are that there are: 

this  coexistence  of  several 

representative  cross-industry  business 

•  different cross-industry employer organisations/business associations for smaller companies and 

larger companies in 20 Member States 

•  different cross-industry employer organisations/business associations for private and public 

sector employers in 10 Member States 

•  specific cross-industry employer organisations/business associations for cooperatives in six 

Member States 

•  cross-industry employer organisations/business associations with different ideological 

orientations in four Member States 

A further 18 non-representative employer organisations/business associations at cross-industry level 
were considered in the study because they are members of one of the recognised European social 
partners (BusinessEurope, SMEunited or SGI Europe). One employer organisation/business 
association was checked for relevance but it was found to be not representative at cross-industry 
level. Out of 39 non-representative employer organisations/business associations, two are members 
of BusinessEurope, nine are members of SMEunited and seven are members of SGI Europe. 

For the purpose of this study, employer organisations are not considered separately from business 
associations. Employer organisations are associations that have the mandate and capacity to 
conclude collective agreements either at confederate level or by way of their national affiliates. 
Business associations, on the other hand, represent the interest of their affiliates by influencing 
socioeconomic decision-making at national level (see Brandl and Lehr, 2019; Gooberman and 
Hauptmeier, 2022). Within the industrial relations setting in the different Member States, a variety of 
terms are used by organisations at national level to describe themselves. Besides the terms employer 
organisation and business association, some call themselves confederations or peak-level social 
partner organisations. Furthermore, different terms are defined in different ways in the Member 
States, not allowing for one European definition of these terms. At sectoral level, involvement in 
collective bargaining can be considered a criterion to distinguish an employer organisation from a 
business association. In some Member States, there is no collective bargaining at cross-industry level, 
but, even so, some organisations still consider themselves employer organisations. By using both 
terms, namely employer organisation and business association, we aim to include all types of 
national organisations representing the interests of employers at cross-industry level. 

2.3. Cross-industry social dialogue (and collective bargaining) 
structures in the EU27 
Table 7 shows the state of collective bargaining at cross-industry level across the EU27. 

In 11 Member States, there is a tradition/practice of country-wide collective bargaining on 
employment relations and working conditions at cross-industry level. This is the case in Belgium, 

14 

 
Cyprus, Estonia, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden. In 
Estonia and Hungary, collective bargaining at cross-industry level takes place only with regard to the 
national minimum wage. In Bulgaria, cross-industry collective bargaining takes place not at national 
level but at regional level. In Spain, it occurs at both national and regional levels. Thus, in two 
countries, there are practices of cross-industry collective bargaining at regional level. 

Table 7: Member States with collective bargaining at cross-industry level 

Member States where cross-industry collective 
bargaining covers 90% or more of the national workforce 

BE (95%), EE (100% for minimum wages), FR 
(100%), HU (100% for minimum wages) 

Member States with a 75–80% coverage of cross-
industry collective bargaining 

SE (75%), IT (80%), NL (80%) 

Member States with cross-industry collective bargaining 
covering about 25% of employees 

BG (27%3) 

Member States with about 15% coverage of cross-
industry collective bargaining 

SK (15%) 

Member States with cross-industry collective bargaining 
but no information on the coverage 

CY, EL, ES (at national and regional levels) 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents data 

In 12 countries, there are other kinds of collective arrangements of working conditions at cross-
industry level in which social partners have a say,4 while, in 19 countries, cross-sector social partner 
organisations are involved in the statutory setting of minimum wages (Table 8). 

Table 8: State of social dialogue at cross-industry level, EU27 

Member States with collective arrangements of 
working conditions at cross-industry level with 
cross-industry social partner involvement 

CY, DK, EE, EL, FI, HU, IE, LV, MT, NL, PT, SE (12 
Member States) 

Member States where cross-industry social 
partners are involved in statutory setting of 
minimum wages  

BE, BG, CY, DE, EE, ES, FR, HR, HU, IE, LT, LU, LV, MT, 
PL, PT, SI, SE, SK (19 Member States) 

Social dialogue involvement  

In all 27 Member States (complete list in Annex 5) 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents data 

In the majority of the Member States, there is cross-industry social dialogue in which the cross-sector 
social partners participate in regulatory functions/boards on cross-sector issues of social and 
economic policy affecting the economy as a whole. This is not the case in Croatia, Denmark, Finland, 

3 At regional level, collective bargaining exists in Bulgaria only at municipal level. The collective bargaining in Bulgaria is 
focused at enterprise and sectoral levels. 
4 In the study, these forms of collective arrangements were defined as those other than collective bargaining. Such other 
forms differ across the Member States, covering consultations, social dialogue councils, and ad hoc and regular meetings or 
exchanges. Within the scope of the study, no further distinction could be made. Further information on the industrial 
relations landscape is available in the country pages on Eurofound’s website (https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/country). 

15 

 
 
 
 
France, Greece, Italy or Slovenia. A total of 117 social dialogue bodies at cross-industry level are 
reported across the EU27. All of these bodies are listed in Annex 5. 

2.4. Cross-industry social partners in the EU27 
A detailed overview of the cross-industry social partner setting in the EU27 is provided in the country 
pages in Annex 1. 

The basis for representativeness of national-level cross-industry social partners depends on their 
capacity to negotiate in Austria, Belgium, France, Greece, and used to in Finland. In most EU Member 
States, however, representativeness comes with membership of cross-industry social dialogue 
structures, and this membership can be gained either based on mutual recognition or through the 
fulfilment of specific criteria. Representativeness that is based only on tradition and mutual 
recognition is specific to Denmark. 

Second, there are different ways to measure the degree of cross-sectoralism and what kind of cross-
sectoralism is needed to be considered representative in the national setting at cross-industry level. 
All national organisations included in this study were asked in how many sectors they have members. 
The 44 sectors identified are the 43 sectors for which there are EU sectoral social dialogue 
committees (ESSDCs) established, plus the social services sector, for which there is a request for the 
creation of an ESSDC. 

Some organisations are included in the country tables in Annex 1 because of their involvement in 
cross-industry social dialogue or because of their affiliation to European cross-industry social partner 
organisations, even though they organise dialogue in only one or a few sectors (fewer than 10). Such 
organisations have a sectoral rather than a cross-industry membership domain. In between these are 
multisectoral organisations covering several different sectors, but without a full cross-industrial 
membership domain. In Member States where a distinction is made between cross-industry social 
partner organisations for the private sector and for the public sector, the combination of such 
organisations can be considered representative at cross-industry level, even though individually they 
cover only half or less than half of the sectors. 

The number of national cross-industry organisations may not fully reveal the differences between 
them in terms of membership strength. In some countries, a clear distinction can be made between 
the most representative cross-industry social partner organisations and others that are still somehow 
representative, but not as representative in terms of membership strength. In some countries, these 
distinctions are part of the national industrial relations setting. In other countries, such as Bulgaria, 
distinguishing the different membership strengths of employer organisations does not make sense, 
as different organisations represent different parts that together form the required 
representativeness. In addition, different organisations/companies can simultaneously be affiliated to 
more than one employer organisation, resulting in double counting and in a situation where 
comparing membership strength appears inappropriate. 

Membership strength and the representativeness status of organisations can change over time. In 
Finland, for example, representativeness used to be based on the capacity to negotiate collective 
bargaining agreements at cross-industry level, but, as this has not been the practice for several years, 
representativeness is now linked to participation in cross-industry social dialogue. In France, 
meanwhile, the CGT-FO took over the CFDT’s position as the cross-industry trade union with the 
second largest number of votes in workplace elections in 2022, pushing the CFDT into third place. In 
Lithuania, the RJPS became the third representative trade union participating in tripartite social 

16 

 
dialogue, taking the place of LPS ‘Sandrauga’, which is no longer considered representative at cross-
industry level. This study gives only a snapshot of the situation from 2020 to 2022 but tries to include 
some of these dynamics and the increasing or decreasing trends in membership strength. 

The distinction between direct and indirect membership at national level is blurred. Rare are the 
national cross-industry social partners that have directly affiliated employees or employers. In almost 
all cases, there are regional or sectoral member organisations or substructures of cross-industry 
social partner organisations that have employees or employers as members. In a limited number of 
Member States, there are national organisations with mandatory or automatic membership in 
parallel with other organisations that have voluntary membership. This is the case, for example, in 
Austria, Croatia and Hungary. For most Member States, however, voluntary membership is the norm 
for national social partner organisations. 

The country pages (Annex 1) combine an overview of the cross-industry industrial relations 
landscape from the perspective of the given country (bottom-up approach) with the (other) national 
affiliated organisations of the recognised European cross-industry social partner organisations (top-
down approach). Consequently, there may be national associations included in the country pages 
that are not considered representative at cross-industry level in the given country, but that are 
included because of their affiliation to one of the European cross-industry social partner 
organisations. National associations marked in orange on the country pages are not recognised as 
representative social partner organisations at cross-industry level. When specific national 
representativeness criteria are used to clarify why certain organisations are considered 
representative and others are not, this is indicated, although without providing all the details on 
these criteria or how they are implemented (Eurofound, 2016). 

17 

 
 
 
3. Overview of the representativeness of the 
European cross-industry social partners 

In this chapter, the representativeness of European associations is assessed first individually and then 
collectively. In Sections 3.1–3.3, the individual representativeness of ETUC, CEC European Managers 
and Eurocadres is analysed. Section 3.4 lists the national cross-industry social partner organisations 
that are not represented in European cross-industry social dialogue. Section 3.5 presents CESI, the 
only other European association with representativeness at cross-industry level in some Member 
States on the trade union side. 

In Sections 3.6–3.8, the individual representativeness of BusinessEurope, SMEunited and SGI Europe 
is analysed. Section 3.9 identifies the national employer organisations not represented in EU cross-
industry social dialogue. Section 3.10 identifies Eurochambres as the only other European association 
with representativeness at cross-industry level in some Member States on the employers’ side. 

The limits of the collective representativeness of the EU cross-industry social partners are explored 
within the list of national cross-industry organisations not represented in the EU cross-industry social 
dialogue, and with the assessment of the representativeness of CESI and Eurochambres. In Section 
3.11, the effective participation in the meetings of the cross-industry social dialogue is analysed. 
Section 3.12 describes social partners’ mandate and capacity. An overview of all organisations is 
provided in Section 3.13. 

The assessment of the representativeness is made utilising the EU social partner fact sheets, which 
are based on several detailed tables on which EU social partners were consulted in February 2022. 
Each of the EU social partner fact sheets starts with the number of affiliated organisations and the 
number of Member States in which the European organisation has affiliates. First, all national 
associations are counted. Subsequently, the membership strength, representativeness status and 
different roles and positions in the national industrial relations landscape at cross-industry level are 
taken into consideration. 

The membership strength of a trade union is based on the number of employees who are members 
compared with the total number of employees and as a proportion of all trade union members. The 
membership strength of an employer organisation is based on the number of affiliated companies 
compared with the total number of companies, and also on their collective workforce, expressed as a 
proportion of the total workforce. 

The membership domain and cross-industry relatedness are considered first in terms of the numbers 
of sectors organised. An assessment is made of the number of affiliated organisations organising 
each specific category of employees or companies. By dividing the number of affiliated organisations 
organising this specific category of employees or employers by the total number of national 
associations organising this category, the proportion of organisations represented in the cross-
industry social dialogue is obtained. The number of Member States in which there is an affiliated 
national association organising this specific category of employees or employers is identified. 

The analyses of the internal structures to ensure effective participation in the EU cross-industry social 
dialogue and the capacity to negotiate are based on how the national affiliates are organised 
internally and what types of internal decision-making structures they apply to represent the interests 
of the employees and employers they represent at national level. The capacity to negotiate is 

18 

 
illustrated by ongoing negotiations and agreements reached in the past. The effective participation 
of national delegates in the EU cross-industry social dialogue is analysed in Section 3.11. 

3.1. Representativeness of ETUC 
ETUC has 74 affiliated organisations in the EU27, of which 62 are recognised as representative in the 
industrial relations systems of their countries – and there is at least one in each of the 27 Member 
States. The 12 affiliated trade unions that are not deemed representative are in Cyprus, Estonia, 
France, Greece, Italy, Romania and Spain. Together, the 74 ETUC members represent some 37 million 
trade union members, that is, approximately 22% of all employees in the EU27 and about 80% of all 
trade union members in the EU27 (Table 9). 

In each of the 27 Member States, the cross-industry trade union with the most members is affiliated 
to ETUC. In 16 Member States, this is also the case with the second largest trade union (note, only 25 
Member States have more than one trade union) and, in 10 Member States, the third largest trade 
union is also affiliated to ETUC. For 40 member organisations of ETUC, an exact number of affiliated 
trade union members was given, while for 34 this was an estimate. There are six ETUC member 
organisations that have no data on the number of individual members. 

Among the cross-industry trade unions affiliated to ETUC, 21 have direct employees as members. 
However, most of ETUC’s member organisations (53 trade unions) are confederations of trade unions 
that have employees as members, while the confederations themselves only have those trade unions 
as members. 

ETUC has 49 member organisations involved in cross-industry collective bargaining in 21 Member 
States. This is not the case for Czechia, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Romania or Sweden. 

In each of the 27 Member States, ETUC has an affiliated organisation that is involved in social 
dialogue with employer organisations at cross-industry level. In most countries, this takes the form of 
both tripartite social dialogue and bipartite cross-industry social dialogue. For the Swedish members, 
only bipartite social dialogue takes place and, for Malta, only tripartite cross-industry social dialogue 
exists.  

Table 9: Breakdown of ETUC membership numbers, by Member State 

Member 
State 

Number of 
represented 
trade 
unions 

Number of 
affiliated 
trade unions 

EU27 
AT 
BE 
BG 
CY 
CZ 
DE 
DK 
EE 

82 
1 
3 
2 
3 
2 
3 
5 
1 

74 
1 
3 
2 
3 
1 
1 
3 
2 

Number of 
ETUC member 
trade unions 
considered 
representative 
at cross-
industry level 
62 
1 
3 
2 
2 
1 
1 
3 
1 

Number of 
active trade 
union members 
(all affiliated 
trade unions 
together) 

As a 
proportion 
of all trade 
union 
members in 
the country 
(%) 

As a 
proportion 
of all 
employees 
(%) 

~37 million 
1,216,8105 
3,322,588 
275,536 
79,753 
287,360 
6,200,000 
2,318,604 
22,400 

80 
100 
996 
100 
577 
66 
80 
92 
100 

5 This is the number of all trade union members, as information on active members is not available.  
6 Information about one trade union is not available.  
7 Information about one trade union is not available.  

22 
29 
71 
12 
22 
6 
16 
88 
4 

19 

 
 
EL 
ES 
FI 
FR 
HR 
HU 
IE 
IT 
LT 
LU 
LV 
MT 
NL 
PL 
PT 
RO 
SE 
SI 
SK 

1 
4 
3 
5 
3 
6 
1 
3 
3 
3 
1 
3 
3 
3 
2 
5 
4 
7 
2 

2 
5 
3 
8 
3 
5 
1 
4 
3 
2 
1 
3 
3 
3 
2 
5 
3 
1 
1 

1 
3 
3 
4 
3 
5 
1 
3 
2 
2 
1 
3 
3 
3 
2 
4 
3 
1 
1 

630,0008 
1,029,2949 
1,909,00010 
2,394,672 
246,870 
283,52712 
490,000 
6,383,080 
74,500 
113,50214 
85,67615 
91,382 
1,163,00016 
1,221,32018 
1,006,36319 
1,958,30720 
3,359,483 
150,000 
243,00022 

99 
45 
99 
8911 
75 
91 
100 
n.a.13 
70 
91 
100 
100 
9017 
100 
95 
n.a.21 
97 
52 
80 

15 
5 
76 
8 
12 
8 
21 
50 
6 
40 
10 
37 
17 
7 
22 
24 
80 
16 
10 

Furthermore, 63 member unions in 25 Member States are involved in other processes of determining 
working conditions at cross-industry level. Only in Portugal and Slovakia is this not the case, but, in 
these Member States, there are ETUC affiliates that participate directly or indirectly in collective 
bargaining at cross-industry level. 

Table 10: Cross-sector-relatedness of ETUC’s 74 nationally affiliated organisations (see Annex 4) 

All or almost all sectors 
covered (>30) 

50 trade unions in 24 
Member States 

Not the case in three Member States: EE, HU, 
MT 

Between 10 and 29 sectors 
covered 

16 trade unions in 10 
Member States 

CY, EE, ES, FI, HR, HU, MT, NL, RO, SE 

Fewer than 10 sectors 
covered (1–9) 

8 trade unions in 6 
Member States 

CY, EE, EL, HU, MT, RO 

Table 10 presents the cross-sector-relatedness of ETUC’s member organisations, summarising Table 
A1 in Annex 4. ETUC has 50 member organisations covering almost all sectors in 24 EU Member States. 

8 This is the number of all trade union members, as information on active members is not available. 
9 This is the number of all trade union members, as information on active members is not available. 
10 This is the number of all trade union members, as information on active members is not available.  
11 Information about two trade unions is not available.  
12 Information about one trade union is not available.  
13 Information about the membership of six trade unions is not available. 
14 Information about one trade union is not available.  
15 This is the number of all trade union members, as information on active members is not available.  
16 Information about one trade union is not available.  
17 Information about one trade union is not available.  
18 This is the number of all trade union members, as information on active members is not available.  
19 This is the number of all trade union members, as information on active members is not available.  
20 Information about one trade union is not available.  
21 Information about the membership of three trade unions is not available. 
22 This is the number of all trade union members, as information on active members is not available.  

20 

 
 
 
 
Only in Estonia, Hungary and Malta is this not the case. Sixteen of ETUC’s member organisations cover 
between 10 and 29 sectors, and only 8 of its members cover fewer than 10 sectors. 

Table 11 indicates the number of member organisations covering different categories of workers and 
the proportion of all cross-industry organisations covering these companies. The bottom row 
indicates that there is an ETUC member organisation in all 27 Member States that organises blue- 
and white-collar workers in both the private and the public sector and also employees in small and 
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and micro firms. An ETUC member organises self-employed 
workers in 24 Member States, management staff in 25 Member States and employees in 
cooperatives in 26 Member States. The Member States for which these categories of workers are not 
represented by ETUC member unions are noted in the table.  

Table 11: Categories of workers represented by ETUC member unions 

Number of trade 
unions affiliated 
to ETUC that 
organise these 
professional 
groups  

Total number of 
trade unions 
organising these 
groups 

% of all cross-
industry trade 
unions organising 
these professional 
groups 

45 

60 

69 

54 

68 

71 

53 

60 

57 

92 

103 

100 

107 

117 

71 

91 

79% 

65% 

67% 

54% 

64% 

61% 

75% 

66% 

Number of EU 
Member States for 
which ETUC has an 
affiliate organising 
these professional 
groups 

24  
Not in BE, CY, DE 
27 

27 
25  
Not in DE, PT 
27 

27 

26  
Not in EE 

27 

Self-employed 

Blue collar 

White collar 
Management 
staff 
Private sector 

Public sector 

Employees in 
cooperatives 

Employees in 
SMEs and micro 
companies 

Most of the ETUC member trade unions have sectoral suborganisations. Only in Poland is this not the 
case. Most ETUC affiliates have regional suborganisations. Only in Estonia, Ireland, Latvia and 
Luxemburg are there no regional suborganisations. There are 32 ETUC member unions with a 
centralised database of membership data, while 22 others maintain databases at only regional or 
sectoral suborganisation level, with numbers communicated to the central confederation. In terms of 
internal decision-making structures, 52 of the ETUC member organisations have majority-based 
decision-making and 15 take decisions by consensus. In all Member States except Germany, ETUC 
has an affiliate with the capacity to negotiate on behalf of all of the trade union members that it 
represents. 

21 

 
  
 
 
 
Table 12: Decision-making structures of ETUC member unions 

Majority-based decision-making 

52 member 
trade unions  

24 Member 
States 

Excluding CZ, EE, IE, RO 

Largest member organisations 
have more votes 

28 member 
trade unions 

15 Member 
States 

Consensus-based decision-
making 

15 member 
trade unions  

10 Member 
States 

Mechanisms to voice internal 
minority positions 

25 member 
trade unions 

11 Member 
States 

BG, CZ, DK, ES, FI, FR, HU, IE, IT, LT, LV, 
MT, PT, RO, SK (not all trade unions in all 
these Member States)  

CY, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, IT, MT, NL, SE (not 
all trade unions in all these Member 
States) 

BG, DK, EL, ES, FR, HR, HU, IT, LV, MT, 
RO (not all trade unions in all these 
Member States) 

Capacity to negotiate on behalf 
of all member organisations 

63 member 
trade unions 

26 Member 
States 

Excluding DE 

ETUC has affiliated European sectoral organisations: EAEA, EuroCOP, EFBWW/FETBB, EFFAT, EFJ/FEJ, 
IndustriAll, EPSU, ETF, ETUCE/CSEE and UNI-EUROPA. The member organisations of these European 
sectoral organisations are also represented through the national cross-industry organisations that are 
affiliated to ETUC. 

3.2. Representativeness of CEC European Managers 
CEC European Managers has 14 directly affiliated organisations in 13 Member States, representing 
management and senior personnel across private and public sectors. Four member organisations are 
recognised as representative in the industrial relations systems of their countries. This is the case for 
four members in Denmark, France, Italy and Sweden. 

Of these organisations, 13 are affiliated directly to CEC European Managers. Together, 14 members 
represent some 600,000 management staff, that is, approximately 0.5% of all employees in the EU27 
and about 1.5% of all trade union members in the EU27 (this proportion is higher in Denmark, France 
and Sweden). 

In 12 Member States, the directly affiliated organisations are among the smallest trade unions in 
their countries. 

Among the trade unions affiliated to CEC European Managers, employees themselves are members 
in seven; this is not the case for four member organisations in Denmark, France, Germany and Italy. 

CEC European Managers has two member organisations involved in cross-industry collective 
bargaining in two Member States: France and Sweden. 

Five affiliated organisations (in Denmark, France, Italy, Germany and Sweden) are involved in 
tripartite and bipartite cross-industry social dialogue with employer organisations. Furthermore, five 
member unions in five Member States are involved in other kinds of cross-industry collective 
determination of working conditions (in Denmark, France, Italy, Spain and Sweden).  

22 

 
 
 
Table 13: Breakdown of CEC European Managers membership numbers, by Member State 

Member 
State 

Number of 
represented 
trade 
unions 

Number of 
affiliated 
trade 
unions 

Number of CEC 
European 
Managers 
member trade 
unions 
considered 
representative 
at cross-
industry level 

Number of active 
trade union 
members (all 
affiliated trade 
unions together) 

As a 
proportion 
of all 
employees 
(%) 

As a 
proportion 
of all trade 
union 
members 
in the 
country 
(%) 

EU27 
AT 
BE 
BG 
CY 
CZ 
DE 
DK 
EE 
EL 
ES 
FI 
FR 
HR 
HU 
IE 
IT 
LT 
LU 
LV 
MT 
NL 
PL 
PT 
RO 
SE 
SI 
SK 

82 
1 
3 
2 
3 
2 
3 
5 
1 
1 
4 
3 
5 
3 
6 
1 
3 
3 
3 
1 
3 
3 
3 
2 
5 
4 
7 
2 

14 
0 
1 
0 
3 
1 
1 
1 
0 
1 
1 
0 
1 
0 
1 
0 
1 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
(1) indirect23 
0 
1 
1 
0 

4 

0 

0 
0 
0 
1 

0 
0 

1 

0 

1 

1 
0 

~600,000 

Around 1 

Around 1 

10,000 

Below 1 

Below 1 

400 
70,000 
127,577 

Below 1 
Below 1 
5 

Below 1 
Below 1 
2 

500 
18,400 

Below 1 
Below 1 

Below 1 
Below 1 

152,000 

6 

2 

210 

Below 1 

Below 1 

89,835 

Below 1 

Below 1 

95,431 
1,200 

3 
Below 1 

Around 1 
Below 1 

Table 14: Cross-sector-relatedness of the 14 national affiliated organisations of CEC European 
Managers (see Annex 4) 

All or almost all sectors covered (>30) 

6 trade unions in 6 Member States 

BE, CZ, DE, DK, FR, IT 

Between 10 and 29 sectors covered 

3 trade unions in 3 Member States 

ES, HU, SE 

Fewer than 10 sectors covered (1–9) 

0 

Note: Information on two affiliates is not available. 

23 The Portuguese affiliate of CEC is the National Bank Employees’ Union SNQTB (Sindicato Nacional dos Quadros e Técnicos 
Bancários). It covers one sector and is not included in the current cross-sector study. SNQTB is a member of the cross-
sectoral union USI; hence it is concluded that USI is an indirect member of European Managers.  

23 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The previous Table 14 presents the cross-sector-relatedness of CEC European Managers’ member 
organisations, summarising Table A3 in Annex 4. CEC European Managers has six member 
organisations covering almost all sectors in six Member States. Three of its member organisations 
cover between 10 and 29 sectors. For the rest, the information was not known. 

Table 15 indicates the number of member organisations covering different categories of workers and 
the proportion of all cross-industry organisations covering this segment of workers. All members of 
CEC European Managers represent management staff in all 13 Member States. Membership 
coverage is also wide among private sector employees, with eight members in eight Member States, 
as well as public sector employees, with seven members in seven Member States.  

Table 15: Categories of workers represented by CEC European Managers member unions 

Number of trade 
unions affiliated 
to CEC European 
Managers that 
organise these 
professional 
groups 

Total number of 
trade unions 
organising these 
groups 

% of all cross-
industry trade 
unions organising 
these professional 
groups 

Number of EU 
Member States for 
which CEC 
European 
Managers has an 
affiliate organising 
these professional 
groups 

2 

1 

2 

14 

8 

7 

3 

5 

57 

92 

103 

100 

107 

117 

71 

91 

4% 

1% 

2% 

14% 

7% 

6% 

4% 

5% 

2 

1 

2 

13 

8 

7 

3 

5 

Self-employed 

Blue collar 

White collar 

Management staff 

Private sector 

Public sector 

Employees in 
cooperatives 

Employees in SMEs 
and micro 
companies 

Four CEC European Managers member trade unions have sectoral suborganisations in France, 
Germany, Italy and Spain. Six members also have regional suborganisations in Czechia, Denmark, 
France, Italy, Spain and Sweden. Eight CEC European Managers member unions have a centralised 
database with membership data, while for others such databases exist only at sectoral 
suborganisation level. Two members report numbers to the central confederation. In terms of 
internal decision-making structures, four of the CEC European Managers member organisations have 
majority-based decision-making and one takes decisions by consensus. In seven Member States, CEC 
European Managers has an affiliate with the capacity to negotiate on behalf of all the trade union 
members it represents. 

CEC European Managers aims to represent the voice of managers at cross-industry level. When 
assessed on purely quantitative criteria, CEC European Managers’ representativeness is limited, as its 
members are present in fewer than half of the EU Member States, three of its members are 
recognised as representative in their Member States and two are involved in cross-industry collective 
bargaining. On the other hand, with over 600,000 managers represented through CEC European 
Managers’ national members, the organisation provides an important perspective on company 

24 

 
  
 
leaders, managers and senior personnel to be represented in the cross-industry social dialogue 
structures. 

Table 16: Decision-making structures of CEC European Managers member unions 

Majority-based decision-
making 

4 member trade 
unions  

4 Member States 

CZ, DE, SE, SI 

Largest member organisations 
have more votes 

4 member trade 
unions 

4 Member States 

DK, ES, FR, IT 

Consensus-based decision-
making 

1 member trade 
union 

1 Member State 

SE 

Mechanisms to voice internal 
minority positions 

2 member trade 
unions 

2 Member States 

ES, IT 

Capacity to negotiate on behalf 
of all member organisations 

7 member trade 
unions 

7 Member States 

BE, CZ, DK, ES, FR, IT, SE 

3.3. Representativeness of Eurocadres  
Eurocadres has 49 affiliated organisations in 21 EU Member States (excluding Croatia, Cyprus, 
Ireland, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia). There are 39 member organisations recognised as 
representative in the industrial relations systems of their countries. This is not the case for members 
in Belgium, Estonia, France, Italy and Spain. However, in France and Spain, other trade unions 
affiliated to Eurocadres are considered representative. Together, 49 members have about 5.8 million 
affiliated trade union members, covering employees with management positions. This represents 
approximately 15% of all employees in the EU27 and about 13% of all of the 44 million cross-sector 
trade union members in the EU27. 

Exact numbers of affiliated trade union members were provided by 27 member organisations of 
Eurocadres, while 20 of them provided estimates. Two Eurocadres member organisations had no 
insight into the number of individual members of the member organisations. 

Among the cross-industry trade unions affiliated to Eurocadres, 18 have individual employees as 
members. However, most Eurocadres member organisations (32 trade unions) are confederations of 
trade unions that have employees as trade union members, while the confederations themselves 
only have those trade unions as members. 

Eurocadres has 32 member organisations involved in cross-industry collective bargaining in 17 
Member States. No Eurocadres members are involved in cross-industry collective bargaining in five 
Member States (Czechia, Germany, Poland, Romania and Spain). 

Eurocadres has at least one affiliated organisation involved in social dialogue with employer 
organisations at cross-industry level in 22 Member States. In most countries, this consists of both 
tripartite social dialogue and bipartite cross-industry social dialogue. There are 45 member unions in 
22 Member States involved in other kinds of cross-industry collective dialogue regarding working 
conditions. 

25 

 
Table 17: Breakdown of Eurocadres membership unions, by Member State 

Member 
State 

Number of 
represented 
trade unions 

Number of 
affiliated 
trade unions 

Number of 
Eurocadres 
member trade 
unions considered 
representative at 
cross-industry level 

Number of active 
trade union 
members (all 
affiliated trade 
unions together) 

As a 
proportion 
of all 
employees 
(%) 

As a 
proportion of 
all trade 
union 
members in 
the country 
(%) 

EU27 
AT 
BE 
BG 
CY 
CZ 
DE 
DK 
EE 
EL 
ES 
FI 
FR 
HR 
HU 
IE 
IT 
LT 
LU 
LV 
MT 
NL 
PL 
PT 
RO 
SE 
SI 
SK 

49 
82 
1 indirect 
1 
3  4 (2 indirect) 
2 
2 
0 
3 
1 
2 
1 
3 
2 
5 
1 
1 
1 
1 
4  3 (2 indirect) 
3 
2 
5  10 (3 indirect) 
0 
3 
1 
6 
1 
0 
3  3 (1 indirect) 
0 
3 
2 
3 
1 
1 
3 
3 
3 
3 
2 
3 
2 
2 
5  2 (1 indirect) 
2 
4 
0 
7 
0 
2 

39  Around 5.8 million24 
10,200 
1 
249,844 
3 
12,119 
2 

13 
Below 1 
8 
Below 1 

Below 1 
Around 1 
30 
Below 1 
Below 1 
30 
35 
19 

3 
Below 1  
5  
Below 1 

Below 1  
Below 1  
30 
Below 1 
Below 1 
3 
27 
3 

1,150 
91,094 
824,800 
2,400 
14,800 
768,000 
665,000 
510,080 

65,628 

16 

Around 1 

878,000 

7,500 
9,424 
6,734 
580,000 
75,000 
100,628 
211,076 
724,971 

6 

Around 4 

5 
9 
9 
4025 
8 
8 
20 
25 

3 
1 
1 
7 
Below 1 
2 
3 
20 

1 
1 
2 
0 
1 
2 
2 
4 

1 

2 

2 
1 
3 
3 
2 
2 
2 
2 

Eurocadres aims to represent the voice of professional and managerial staff at  cross-industry level. 
When  assessed  on  purely  quantitative  criteria,  Eurocadres’  representativeness  is  extensive,  as  its 
members are present in almost all of the EU Member States, the majority of them are recognised as 
representative in their countries and nearly all Member States have at least one Eurocadres member 
involved in cross-industry collective bargaining. 

Table 18: Cross-sector-relatedness of the 49 national affiliates of Eurocadres (see Annex 4) 

All or almost all sectors 
covered (>30) 

37 trade unions in 
16 Member States 

AT, BE, BG, CZ, DE, DK, EL, ES, FR, IT, LU, LV, NL, PL, PT, 
RO 

Between 10 and 29 sectors 
covered 

7 trade unions in 4 
Member States 

ES, FI, MT, NL 

24 A figure has been provided by Eurocadres, as direct collection of membership data for employees with management 
positions was difficult.  
25 Information about one trade union is not available.  

26 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Fewer than 10 sectors 
covered (1–9) 

5 trade unions in 5 
Member States 

EE, FR, HU, MT, RO 

Table  18  presents  the  cross-sector-relatedness  of  Eurocadres’  member  organisations,  summarising 
Table  A4  in  Annex  4.  Eurocadres  has  37  member  organisations  covering  almost  all  sectors  in  16 
Member States. Seven of its member organisations cover between 10 and 29 sectors and only five of 
its members cover fewer than 10 sectors. 

Table 19 indicates the number of member organisations covering different categories of workers and 
the proportion of all cross-industry organisations covering these types of companies. The bottom row 
indicates that  21 Member States have a Eurocadres member organisation  that organises blue- and 
white-collar workers in both the private and public sectors, employees in SMEs and micro firms, and 
management staff. Eurocadres member organisations organise self-employed workers in 20 Member 
States, and there are also member organisations in 20 Member States that represent employees in 
cooperatives. 

Table 19: Categories of workers represented by Eurocadres member unions 

Number of trade 
unions affiliated 
to Eurocadres 
that organise 
these 
professional 
groups 

Total number of 
trade unions 
organising these 
groups 

% of all cross-
industry trade 
unions organising 
these 
professional 
groups 

Number of EU 
Member States 
for which 
Eurocadres has an 
affiliate 
organising these 
professional 
groups 

33 

39 

47 

49 

47 

48 

36 

42 

57 

92 

103 

100 

107 

117 

71 

91 

58% 

42% 

46% 

49% 

44% 

41% 

51% 

46% 

20 

21 

21 

21 

21 

21 

20 

21 

Self-employed 

Blue collar 

White collar 

Management staff 

Private sector 

Public sector 

Employees in 
cooperatives 

Employees in SMEs 
and micro 
companies 

Most of the Eurocadres member trade unions have sectoral suborganisations; only seven members 
do not. There are regional suborganisations in 29 of the 49 Eurocadres affiliates. There is a 
centralised database with membership data in 22 Eurocadres member organisations, there are 
databases at only regional or sectoral suborganisation level in 11 Eurocadres member organisations 
and numbers are communicated to the central confederation by the remaining 18 member 
organisation. 

In terms of internal decision-making, 36 of the Eurocadres member organisations have majority-
based decision-making and 8 take decisions by consensus. Eurocadres has affiliates in 21 Member 
States that have the capacity to negotiate on behalf of all the trade union members they represent.  

27 

 
 
  
 
Table 20: Decision-making structures of Eurocadres member unions 

Majority-based decision-
making 

36 member 
trade unions  

20 Member 
States 

Not in CZ, RO 

Largest member organisations 
have more votes 

18 member 
trade unions 

11 Member 
States 

BG, CZ, DK, ES, FR, IT, LT, LV, MT, PT, RO  

Consensus-based decision-
making 

8 member 
trade unions  

6 Member 
States 

EE, FI, FR, IT, MT, NL 

Mechanisms to voice internal 
minority positions 

17 member 
trade unions 

9 Member 
States 

BG, DK, EL, ES, FR, IT, LV, MT, RO  

Capacity to negotiate on behalf 
of all member organisations 

41 member 
trade unions 

21 Member 
States 

Excluding some members in FR, DE, IT and 
RO (for four members information is not 
known)  

3.4. National cross-industry trade unions not represented by ETUC, 
CEC European Managers or Eurocadres 
Table 21 lists all the cross-sector trade unions that are not members of ETUC, CEC European 
Managers or Eurocadres but are considered representative at national level. There are 16 cross-
sector representative trade unions in nine Member States that are not members of such European 
associations. In total, these unions have some 2.4 million members. The membership strength of all 
these trade unions together corresponds to 1% of all employees and about 5% of all trade union 
members in the EU27. 

Membership strength is decreasing in one trade union, while it is increasing in seven trade unions. 
Seven trade unions report stable membership (information was not available for the remaining 
union). 

Nine trade unions are involved in cross-industry collective bargaining and 14 are involved in other 
kinds of collective determination of working conditions. Thirteen trade unions are involved in cross-
industry bipartite social dialogue and 11 are involved in cross-industry tripartite social dialogue. 

28 

 
Table 21: List of national representative cross-sector trade unions not represented in the current European social dialogue structures 

Member 
State 

Abbreviation of 
name in original 
language 

Does this 
trade union 
have direct 
individual 
workers as 
members? 

How many 
members 
does this 
trade union 
have in 
total? 

Has membership 
been increasing, 
stable or 
decreasing over 
the last two to 
three years? 

Is this trade 
union involved 
in cross-
industry 
collective 
bargaining? 

Is this trade union 
involved in other 
kinds of collective 
determination of 
working 
conditions? 

Is this trade 
union involved 
in cross-industry 
bipartite social 
dialogue? 

Is this trade 
union involved 
in cross-industry 
tripartite social 
dialogue? 

Is this trade 
union 
considered 
representative 
in the 
country? 

CY 

CZ 

CZ 
DE 

DE 

DK 

ES 

HU 

LU 

SI 
SI 

SI 

SI 

SI 

SI 

SK 

ΠΕΟ/PEO 

ASO ČR 

KUK 
dbb 

CGB 

CFU 

CIG 

7SZ 

CGFP 

KSJS 

KSS PERGAM 

KS-90 

Solidarnost  

Alternativa 

KNSS-NEODVISNOST 

SOS 

No 

No 

No 
No 

No 

No 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

58,692  Increasing 

73,200 

28,358  Decreasing 
1,334,860  Increasing 

280,000  Stable 

175,078  Stable 

75,000  Increasing 

30,000  Increasing 

32,000  Increasing 

71,000  Stable 

20,000  Increasing 

36,000  Stable 

3,100  Stable 

3,100  Stable 

19,000  Stable 

~27,000   Increasing 

Yes 

No 

No 
Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 

No 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

No 
Yes 

No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

29 

 
 
 
 
In terms of number of members, Germany’s dbb is the largest, with more than one million affiliated 
employees, mainly in the public sector. The second largest is CGB, also from Germany. Together, dbb 
and CGB have four times fewer members than DGB, which has more than six million members 
represented in ETUC. Denmark’s CFU has more than 175,000 members, making it is the smallest of 
the five Danish representative trade unions. 

The country pages in Annex 1 help to situate these trade unions in the industrial relations landscapes 
of their countries. PEO from Cyprus has almost the same number of members as SEK, which is a 
member of ETUC. DEOK, which is also a member of ETUC, is the third largest, but a much smaller, 
trade union from Cyprus. In Czechia, the second and third largest trade unions are not represented. 
ASO ČR and KUK together count some 100,000 members, while the ETUC affiliate CMKOS has about 
277,000 members. In Slovenia, the six trade unions not represented together have 150,000 
members, which equals the number of members of ZSSS, an ETUC affiliate. CIG from Spain 
represents 75,000 trade union members from the region of Galicia. 

3.5. Other European organisations with representative trade unions at 
national cross-industry level in some Member States 
At cross-industry level, CESI has 20 directly affiliated organisations, and at least one directly affiliated 
organisation in 10 EU Member States (Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, 
Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Romania and Spain). Furthermore, there are seven trade unions 
indirectly affiliated to CESI in seven Member States (Austria, France, Latvia, Malta, the Netherlands, 
Romania and Slovakia). Ten of the 27 direct and indirect members are recognised as representative 
in the industrial relations systems of their countries, with direct CESI members in Germany, Lithuania, 
Luxembourg and Romania. The 27 CESI members represent some 6.6 million trade union members, 
that is, approximately 6% of all employees in the EU27 and about 15% of the 44 million cross-sector 
trade union members in the EU27. 

An exact number of affiliated trade union members was provided by 10 CESI member organisations, 
while for 14 this was an estimate. Three CESI member organisations had no insight into the number 
of individual members of the member organisations. 

Among the cross-industry trade unions affiliated to CESI, 11 have direct employees as members. 
Most member organisations of CESI (15 trade unions) are confederations with only those trade 
unions as members. 

CESI has 14 member organisations involved in cross-industry collective bargaining in 10 Member 
States (Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia and 
Spain). 

In 10 Member States (16 CESI members), there is at least one affiliated organisation that is involved 
in social dialogue with employer organisations at cross-industry level. In most countries, this is both 
tripartite social dialogue and bipartite cross-industry social dialogue. There are 18 member unions in 
12 Member States involved in other kinds of cross-industry collective determination of working 
conditions (see Table A4  in Annex 4).  

30 

 
Table 22: Breakdown of CESI membership numbers, by Member State 

Member 
State 

Number of 
represented 
trade 
unions 

Number of 
affiliated 
trade unions 

Number of CESI 
member trade 
unions 
considered 
representative 
at cross-industry 
level 

82  27 (20 direct, 
7 indirect) 
1 indirect 

EU27 

AT 
BE 
BG 
CY 
CZ 
DE 

DK 
EE 
EL 
ES 

FI 
FR 
HR 
HU 
IE 
IT 

LT 
LU 
LV 
MT 
NL 

PL 
PT 
RO 

SE 
SI 
SK 

1 
3 
2 
3 
2 
3 

5 
1 
1 
4 

3 
5 
3 
6 
1 
3 

3 
3 
1 
3 
3 

3 
2 
5 

4 
7 
2 

2 

6  

1 
4 (1 indirect) 
0 
1 

3  

1 
1 
1 indirect 
1 indirect  
2 (1 indirect) 

2 (1 indirect) 

Number of 
active trade 
union 
members (all 
affiliated trade 
unions 
together) 

Around 6.6 
million 
1,216,81026 

As a 
proportion 
of all trade 
union 
members in 
the country 
(%) 

Around 15  

100 

As a 
proportion 
of all 
employees 
(%) 

For all 27: 
6 
29 

Around 1 
million27 

Around 1 
million28 
80529 
160,000 

Around 2.4 
million 
22,000 
31,00032 
85,67633 
26,900 
Around 
260,00034 

Around 
250,000 

13 

40 

3 

4 

Below 1 
730 

Below 1 
Around 1 

31  Around 10 

20 
22 
100 
30 
1835 

2 
5 
10 
11 
3 

36 

3 

10 

1 

2 

0 

0 
1 
0 
0 

0 

1 
1 
1 
1 
1 

1 

1 indirect 

0  

3,000 

Below 1 

Below 1 

26 This is the number of all trade union members, as information on active members is not available.  
27 This is the number of all trade union members, as information on active members is not available.  
28 This is the number of all trade union members, as information on active members is not available. 
29 This is the number of all trade union members, as information on active members is not available.  
30 Information about one trade union is not available.  
31 Information about the membership of six trade unions is not available. 
32 Information about one trade union is not available.  
33 This is the number of all trade union members, as information on active members is not available.  
34 Information about one trade union is not available.  
35 Information about one trade union is not available.  
36 Information about the membership of three trade unions is not available. 

31 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table 23: Cross-sector-relatedness of the 27 national (directly and indirectly) affiliated organisations 
of CESI (see Annex 4) 

All or almost all sectors 
covered (>30) 

7 trade unions in 4 
Member States 

AT, FR, IT, LV 

Between 10 and 29 sectors 
covered 

8 trade unions in 4 
Member States 

DE, ES, MT, NL 

Fewer than 10 sectors 
covered (1–9) 

12 trade unions in 8 
Member States 

ES, FI, FR, LT, LU, NL, SK, RO 

Table 23 presents the cross-sector-relatedness of CESI member organisations, summarising Table A4 
in Annex 4. CESI has seven member organisations covering almost all sectors in four Member States. 
Eight of its member organisations cover between 10 and 29 sectors and most of its members (12) 
cover fewer than 10 sectors. 

Table 24 indicates the number of member organisations covering different categories of workers and 
the proportion of all cross-industry organisations covering these types of companies. The bottom row 
indicates that there are CESI member organisations in 12 Member States that organise blue- and 
white-collar workers in the public sector. CESI members in 10 Member States organise private sector 
workers, employees in SMEs and micro firms, and management staff. There are CESI members 
organising self-employed workers in five Member States and employees in cooperatives in six 
Member States. 

Table 24: Categories of workers represented by CESI member unions 

Number of 
trade unions 
affiliated to 
CESI that 
organise these 
professional 
groups 

Total 
number of 
trade unions 
organising 
these 
groups 

% of all cross-
industry trade 
unions organising 
these professional 
groups 

Number of EU Member 
States for which CESI 
has an affiliate 
organising these 
professional groups 

Self-employed 

Blue collar 

White collar 

Management staff 

Private sector 

Public sector 

Employees in 
cooperatives 

Employees in SMEs 
and micro 
companies 

7 

16 

16 

17 

18 

24 

6 

14 

57 

92 

103 

100 

107 

117 

71 

91 

12% 

17% 

16% 

17% 

17% 

21% 

8% 

15% 

5 

12 

12 

10 

10 

12 

6 

10 

Of the 27 CESI member trade unions, 16 have sectoral suborganisations, while 11 do not. Regional 
suborganisations exist in 11 of the 27 CESI affiliates. A centralised database with membership data is 
maintained by 13 CESI members, while 6 others maintain such databases at only regional or sectoral 
suborganisation level. Five members provide numbers to the central confederation. 

32 

 
 
  
 
In  terms  of  internal  decision-making  structures,  16  CESI  member  organisations  are  involved  in 
majority-based decision-making and five take decisions by consensus (see also Annex 4). In 12 Member 
States, a CESI affiliate has the capacity to negotiate on behalf of all its trade union members. 

Table 25: Decision-making structures of CESI member unions 

Majority-based decision-making 

16 member 
trade unions 

10 Member 
States 

AT, DE, ES, FI, FR, IT, LT, LU, LV, MT 

Largest member organisations 
have more votes 

4 member 
trade unions 

3 Member 
States 

Consensus-based decision-
making 

5 member 
trade unions  

3 Member 
States 

FR, LT, LV 

ES, FR, NL 

Mechanisms to voice internal 
minority positions 

7 member 
trade unions 

7 Member 
States 

DE, FR, IT, LV, MT, RO, SK 

Capacity to negotiate on behalf 
of all member organisations 

21 member 
trade unions 

12 Member 
States 

AT, ES, FI, FR, IT, LT, LU, LV, MT, NL, 
RO, SK  

3.6. Representativeness of BusinessEurope 
BusinessEurope has 32 affiliated organisations in the EU27, with at least one in each of the 27 EU 
Member States. Nearly all (30) are recognised as representative in the industrial relations systems of 
their countries (with the exception of one member each in Austria and Luxembourg). Among them, 
29 are directly affiliated and 3 are indirectly affiliated through another employer organisation. The 
indirect affiliates are VÖWG in Austria through IV, UEL in Luxemburg via FEDIL and CEPYME in Spain 
via CEOE. 

Together they represent about six million companies, that is, approximately 27% of all companies in 
the EU27, while their cumulative workforce represents one-third of the EU workforce. For Czechia, 
Lithuania, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, no data on the workforce of the affiliated companies 
was provided, while for Germany the number provided could be an overestimation. 

The cross-industry organisation representing the most companies could be identified in 26 Member 
States; Bulgaria’s assessment is contested. Organisations affiliated to BusinessEurope provided an 
exact number of represented companies from a database in 18 cases, while for 16 it is an estimated 
number. 

In 21 Member States, the organisation with the largest number of affiliated companies is a member 
of BusinessEurope. This is not the case in Austria, Estonia, Luxembourg, Slovakia or Slovenia. The six 
Member States in which the second largest organisations are affiliated to BusinessEurope are 
Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. 

Among the directly affiliated organisations, almost all are considered employer organisations and 
one is a business association (BDI from Germany). 

33 

 
 
Table 26: Breakdown of BusinessEurope membership numbers, by Member State 

Member 
State 

Number of 
represented 
employer 
organisations/ 
business 
associations 

Number of 
directly 
affiliated 
employer 
organisations/ 
business 
associations 

EU27 

106 

32 

Number of 
member 
organisations 
representative 
in Member 
States at cross-
industry level 
30 

Number of 
represented 
companies 

~6 million 

4,780 
50,000 

46,000 
8,000 

159  
1,100,000 
44,193 
1,997 
4,500 

1 
1 

1 
1 

1 
2 
2 
1 
1 

150,379 
3,525 

3,000,000 
Over 15,000  
125,929 
5,000 
100  

2 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1  All businesses 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 

~5,000  
800 
~185,000 
3,930 
Over 150,000 
Over 2,200 
59,483 
1,400 
1,400 

As a 
proporti
on of all 
compani
es (%) 

As a 
proportion 
of the 
workforce in 
represented 
companies 
(%) 
33 (~56 
million 
workers) 
2037 
1  75 of private 
sector 
13 
7  60 of private 
sector  

~27 

1.4 

22 

32 
70 
53 
14 
39 
9 
3  13 of private 
sector  
3238 
35 
24 
Over 50 
27 
70 
25 

85 
4 
4 
3 

4 
4 
100 
5 
2.5 
9.7 
Below 1  
12 
Below 1  
Below 1  
Below 1  
Below 1 

44 
54 

6 
36 
7 
40 
25–30 
10 

AT 
BE 

BG 
CY 

CZ 
DE 
DK 
EE 
EL 

ES 
FI 
FR 
HR 
HU 
IE 
IT 
LT 
LU 
LV 
MT 
NL 
PL 
PT 
RO 
SE 
SI 
SK 

2 
6 

5 
2 

2 
7 
6 
1 
6 

4 
3 
3 
1 
5 
1 
14 
6 
1 
1 
3 
2 
6 
2 
3 
6 
4 
4 

2 
1 

1 
1 

1 
2 
2 
1 
1 

2 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 

BusinessEurope has 14 member organisations involved in collective bargaining in 13 Member States: 
Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the 
Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain. 

In each of the 27 Member States, BusinessEurope has an affiliated organisation that is involved in 
social dialogue with trade unions at cross-industry level. For 31 member organisations, this is 
tripartite social dialogue and, for 27 member organisations, this is bipartite social dialogue. In 24 
organisations in 20 Member States, there is involvement in other kinds of collective determination of 

37 Information about the workforce of one affiliated employer organisation/business association is not available. 
38 Information about the workforce of one affiliated employer organisation/business association is not available. 

34 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
working conditions. In four Member States, there is no member involved in collective bargaining or in 
other kinds of collective determination of working conditions: Denmark, Germany, Malta and 
Romania. In all four of these Member States, there is, however, involvement in social dialogue. 

Table 27: Cross-sector-relatedness of the 32 national affiliated organisations (employer organisations 
and business associations) of BusinessEurope (see Annex 4) 

All or almost all sectors 
covered (>30) 

Between 10 and 29 
sectors covered 

19 employer 
organisations/business 
associations in 17 
Member States 

13 employer 
organisations/business 
associations in 14 
Member States 

Fewer than 10 sectors 
covered (1–9) 

None 

BE, CY, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, HR, HU, IE, IT, LU, LV, 
MT, NL, SE 
Not in AT, BG, CZ, EL, LT, PL, PT, RO, SI, SK 

AT, BG, CZ, DE, EL, ES, LT, LU, PL, PT, RO, SI, SK, SE 

Table 27 presents the cross-sector-relatedness of BusinessEurope’s member organisations, 
summarising Table A6 in Annex 4. BusinessEurope has 19 member organisations covering almost all 
sectors in 17 Member States. While 13 of its member organisations cover between 10 and 29 
sectors, none of its members covers fewer than 10 sectors. 

Table 28 indicates the number of member organisations covering different types of companies and 
the proportion of all cross-industry organisations covering these types of companies. The bottom row 
indicates that there is a BusinessEurope member organisation in each of the 27 Member States that 
covers multinational companies, large companies, SMEs and micro firms in the private sector. Public 
sector employers are represented by BusinessEurope in 12 Member States, privatised formerly state-
owned companies are represented by BusinessEurope in 23 Member States and cooperatives are 
represented by BusinessEurope in 11 Member States. 

Table 28: Categories of workers represented by BusinessEurope member organisations 

Number of 
affiliated 
employer 
organisations/ 
business 
associations that 
organise these 
types of 
companies 

Total number of 
cross-industry 
employer 
organisations/ 
business 
associations that 
organise these 
types of 
companies 

% of all employer 
organisations/ 
business 
associations that 
organise these 
types of 
companies that 
are affiliated to 
BusinessEurope 

Number of 
Member States in 
which 
BusinessEurope 
has an affiliated 
organisation 
organising these 
types of 
companies 

Multinational 
companies 

Large companies 
(>250 employees) 

SMEs (10–250 
employees) 

Micro firms (fewer 
than 10 employees) 

30 

31 

32 

29 

65 

90 

114 

105 

46% 

34% 

29% 

28% 

27 

27 

27 

27 

35 

 
 
 
  
Private sector 
companies/employers 

Public sector 
employers 

Privatised formerly 
state-owned 
companies 
Cooperatives 

29 

13 

26 

12 

107 

50 

58 

49 

27% 

26% 

45% 

24% 

27 

12 

23 

11 

Except for the member organisations in Austria and Malta, all other affiliates have sectoral 
suborganisations. There are also regional substructures among 19 member organisations from 14 
Member States. Most BusinessEurope member organisations (22) maintain a centralised database of 
member companies. While 14 member organisations have such membership databases at sectoral or 
regional level, most of them communicate their data to central headquarters. In terms of internal 
decision-making structures, 22 BusinessEurope member organisations have majority-based decision-
making and 12 take decisions by consensus. 

Table 29: Decision-making structures of BusinessEurope member organisations 

Majority-based decision-
making 

22 member 
organisations  

17 Member 
States 

AT, BG, CY, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, EL, IE, IT, 
LT, LU, LV, MT, PT 

Largest member organisations 
have more votes 

7 member 
organisations 

6 Member 
States 

CZ, DK, ES, IT, MT, RO 

Consensus-based decision-
making 

12 member 
organisations  

11 Member 
States 

BE, ES, FI, FR, HR, HU, LT, LU, RO, SI, SK 

Mechanisms to voice internal 
minority positions 

12 member 
organisations 

12 Member 
States 

AT, BG, CY, DE, DK, EE, EL, IE, IT, LU, NL, SE 

Capacity to negotiate on 
behalf of all member 
organisations 

23 member 
organisations 

23 Member 
States 

AT, BE, BG, CY, CZ, DK, EE, EL, ES, FI, FR, HR, 
HU, IE, LT, LU, LV, MT, NL, PT, SE, SI, SK 
Not in DE, IT, PL, RO (four Member States) 

3.7. Representativeness of SMEunited 
SMEunited has 36 affiliated organisations in 25 Member States (excluding Czechia and Slovakia). Of 
these, 23 are recognised as representative in the industrial relations systems of their countries in 18 
Member States. All of the member organisations are directly affiliated to SMEunited. 

Together they represent about 7.4 million companies, that is, approximately 33% of all companies in 
the EU27, while their cumulative workforce represents slightly more than 15% of the EU workforce. 
For Belgium, Ireland, Malta, Romania and Sweden, no data on the workforce of the affiliated 
companies were provided, which means that the numbers in terms of the cumulative workforce of all 
represented SMEs could be slightly higher than 15%. 

An exact number of represented companies from a database was provided by 19 affiliates of 
SMEunited, while 17 provided an estimated number. In 26 Member States, the cross-industry 
organisation representing the most companies could be identified; for Bulgaria, this assessment is 
contested. For Austria, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia 

36 

 
 
 
and Sweden, the organisations affiliated to SMEunited are the largest in terms of the number of 
companies. For Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Portugal and Spain, the 
employer organisation with the second most members is affiliated to SMEunited. 

Among the 36 SMEunited affiliates, 25 are considered employer organisations in 17 Member States 
and 11 are business associations (in Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Lithuania, 
Malta, Portugal, Spain and Sweden). 

SMEunited has an affiliate involved in cross-sectoral collective bargaining in 13 Member States: 
Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, 
Romania, Slovenia and Spain. 

SMEunited has an affiliated organisation in 20 Member States that is involved in cross-sectoral social 
dialogue. In 29 member organisations, this is tripartite social dialogue and, in 25 organisations, it is 
bipartite. There are five Member States with SMEunited affiliates without any involvement in social 
dialogue: Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Latvia and Sweden. In Estonia, there is another kind of collective 
determination of working conditions, but in the other four countries this is not the case.  

Table 30: Breakdown of SMEunited membership numbers, by Member State 

Member 
State 

Number of 
representative 
employer 
organisations/ 
business 
associations 

Number of 
affiliated 
employer 
organisations/ 
business 
associations 

EU27 

106 

AT 

BE 
BG 
CY 
CZ 
DE 
DK 
EE 
EL 
ES 
FI 
FR 
HR 
HU 
IE 
IT 
LT 
LU 

2 

6 
5 
2 
2 
7 
6 
1 
6 
4 
3 
3 
1 
5 
1 
14 
6 
1 

36 

2 

2 
1 
1 
0 
1 
1 
1 
2 
3 
1 
3 
2 
1 
1 
240 
1 
2 

Number of 
member 
organisations 
representative 
in Member 
States at cross-
industry level 
23 

Number of 
represented 
companies 

Proportion 
of all 
companies 
(%) 

~7.4 million 

~33 

1 

663,534 

155,500 
402 
8,000 

1 
1 
1 
0 
~1,000,000 
1 
~18.000 
1 
5,200 
0 
320,000 
2 
1,547,000 
3 
110,000 
0 
1,747,112 
1 
12,000 
0 
1 
30,000  
0  Over 10,500 
~1,300,000 
2 
2,000 
1 
~8,500 
0 

100 
(compulsory 
membership) 
10 
Below 1 
7 

30 
6 
4 
30 
8 
30 
44 
9 
439 
4 
~30 
2 
24 

Proportion 
of the 
workforce 
in 
represented 
companies 
(%) 
>15 (>26 
million 
workers) 
~ 66 

n.a. 
13.7 
80 

14 
~ 6 
4 
15 
~ 40 
21 
20 
Over 50 
2 

1041 
10 
2042 

39 This relates to 30,000 businesses.  
40 At the time of finalising the study, it was confirmed that, from 1 January 2023, Confcommercio is no longer a member of 
SMEunited.  
41 Information about one employer organisation/business association is not available.  
42 Information about one employer organisation/business association is not available.  

37 

 
 
 
 
 
 
LV 
MT 
NL 

PL 
PT 
RO 
SE 
SI 
SK 

3. 

1 
3 
2 

6 
2 
3 
6 
4 
4 

1 
1 
1 

1 
1 
1 
1 
2 
0 

1,275 
8,016 
Over 
170,000 
50,000 
195,000 
60,000 
60,000 
45,000 

0 
1 
1 

1 
1 
1 
0 
2 
0 

10 
26 
9  

2 
15 
8 
5 
22 

Below 1  

~2.6 

2 
30 

3043 

Table 31: Cross-sector-relatedness of SMEunited’s 36 national affiliates (employer organisations and 
business associations) (see Table A7 in Annex 4) 

All or almost all sectors 
covered (>30) 

9 employer organisations/business 
associations in 8 Member States 

AT, BE, BG, CY, HR, IT, LT, SE 

Between 10 and 29 
sectors covered 

22 employer organisations/business 
associations in 18 Member States 

BG, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, EL, HR, HU, IE, 
IT, LU, LV, NL, PL, PT, SI 

Fewer than 10 sectors 
covered (1–9) 

5 employer organisations/business 
associations in 5 Member States 

EL, LU, MT, RO, SI 

Note: SMEunited has no member in Czechia or Slovakia. 

Table 31 presents the cross-sector-relatedness of SMEunited’s member organisations, summarising 
Table A7 in Annex 4. SMEunited has nine member organisations covering almost all sectors in eight 
Member States. While 22 of its member organisations cover between 10 and 29 sectors in 18 
Member States, 5 cover fewer than 10 sectors. 

Table 32 indicates the number of member organisations covering different types of companies and 
the proportion of all cross-industry organisations covering these types of companies. The bottom row 
indicates that there is an SMEunited member organisation in 24 EU Member States that covers SMEs 
and micro firms in the private sector. In 11 Member States, there is an affiliate organising larger 
companies, and in nine Member States there is an affiliate organising cooperatives.  

43 Information about one employer organisation/business association is not available.  

38 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table 32: Categories of workers represented by SMEunited member organisations 

Number of 
affiliated 
employer 
organisations/ 
business 
associations that 
organise these 
types of 
companies 

Total number of 
cross-industry 
employer 
organisations/ 
business 
associations that 
organise these 
types of 
companies 

% of all employer 
organisations/ 
business 
associations that 
organise these 
types of 
companies that 
are affiliated to 
SMEunited 

Number of 
Member States in 
which SMEunited 
has an affiliated 
organisation 
organising these 
types of 
companies 

Multinational 
companies 

Large companies  
(>250 employees) 

SMEs  
(10–250 employees) 

Micro firms (fewer 
than 10 employees) 

Private sector 
companies/employers 

Public sector 
employers 

Privatised formerly 
state-owned 
companies 

Cooperatives 

7 

14 

34 

36 

33 

6 

8 

11 

65 

90 

114 

105 

107 

50 

58 

49 

11% 

16% 

30% 

34% 

31% 

12% 

14% 

22% 

7 

11 

24 

24 

24 

5 

7 

9 

Most SMEunited affiliates have sectoral suborganisations. Only in Denmark, Ireland, Malta and 
Sweden is this not the case. Regional suborganisations exist among SMEunited affiliates in 15 
Member States. Most SMEunited member organisations (22) maintain a centralised membership 
database. While 11 member organisations maintain membership databases at sectoral or regional 
level, most of them communicate their data to central headquarters. In terms of internal decision-
making structures, 23 of SMEunited’s member organisations have majority-based decision-making, 
while 14 take decisions by consensus. There are 29 affiliates of SMEunited in 18 Member States that 
have the capacity to negotiate on behalf all their member companies. 

Table 33: Decision-making structures of SMEunited member organisations 

Majority-based decision-making 

23 member 
organisations  

17 Member 
States 

AT, BG, CY, DE, EE, EL, ES, FI, FR, HU, 
IE, IT, LU, MT, PL, PT, SI 

Largest member organisations 
have more votes 

7 member 
organisations 

6 Member 
States 

DK, ES, FR, IT, PL, PT 

Consensus-based decision-
making 

14 member 
organisations  

11 Member 
States 

EE, ES, FI, FR, HR, IT, LT, LU, LV, MT, PL 

Mechanisms to voice internal 
minority positions 

18 member 
organisations 

14 Member 
States 

AT, BG, CY, DE, EE, EL, FR, HU, IT, LU, 
MT, NL, PL, PT 

Capacity to negotiate on behalf 
of all member organisations 

29 member 
organisations 

18 Member 
States 

AT, BE, BG, CY, EE, EL, ES, FR, HR, HU, 
IT, LT, LU, LV, MT, NL, PL, SI, 

39 

 
  
 
Not in DE, DK, FI, IE, PT, RO, SE 
(SMEunited has no member in CZ or 
SK) 

SMEunited has 15 affiliated European sectoral organisations: 7 in the construction sector (EBC, 
EFESME, EFTC, EMU, IFD, UEG and UNIEP), 2 in the personal services sector (Coiffure EU and CEPEC), 
2 in the food sector (CEBP and EHPM), 2 in the transport sector (FIGIEFA and UETR) and 2 in other 
sectors (BIPAR and CETS). 

3.8. Representativeness of SGI Europe 
SGI Europe has 24 affiliated organisations, with at least one member in each of 15 EU Member 
States. Of these, 17 are recognised as representative in the cross-sector industrial relations systems 
of their countries. This is not the case for the national affiliates in France (where the second SGI 
Europe member is considered representative), the Netherlands, Portugal or Spain. Together, SGI 
Europe affiliates represent about 36,000 companies, that is, approximately 2% of all companies in 
the EU27, while their cumulative workforce represents between 10% and 15% of the EU workforce. 
For affiliates in Belgium, Portugal and Spain, no data on the workforce of the affiliated companies 
were provided. 

The number of represented companies is an exact number from a database for 17 SGI Europe affiliates, 
while 7 provided an estimate. 

The cross-industry organisation representing the most companies could be identified in 26 Member 
States; for Bulgaria, this assessment is contested.  

Across the Member States, none of the organisations with the largest number of companies is a 
member of SGI Europe. 

All of SGI Europe’s 24 members are directly affiliated. Among these, 13 are considered employer 
organisations and the rest are either business associations or combined employer 
organisations/business associations, including those representing state employers  

SGI Europe has 11 member organisations involved in existing collective bargaining at cross-industry 
level in six Member States: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy and Sweden. 

40 

 
 
 
 
As a 
proportion 
of the 
workforce in 
represented 
companies 
(%) 

On average 
around 10–
15 
Below 1 
n.a. 
15 

Table 34: Breakdown of SGI Europe membership numbers, by Member State 

Member 
State 

Total number 
of 
represented 
employer 
organisations/ 
business 
associations 

Number of 
(in)directly 
affiliated 
employer 
organisations/ 
business 
associations 

Number of 
member 
organisations 
representative 
in Member 
States at 
cross-industry 
level 

Number of 
represented 
companies 

As a 
proportion 
of all 
companies 
(%) 

EU27 

105 

24 

17 

~36,000 

~2 

AT 
BE 
BG 

CY 
CZ 
DE 
DK 

EE 
EL 
ES 
FI 
FR 
HR 
HU 
IE 
IT 
LT 
LU 
LV 
MT 
NL 
PL 
PT 
RO 
SE 
SI 
SK 

2 
6 
5 

2 
2 
7 
6 

1 
6 
4 
3 
2 
1 
5 
1 
14 
6 
1 
1 
3 
2 
6 
2 
3 
6 
4 
4 

0 
1 
1 

3 
3 

1 
0 
245 
146 

0 

1 
0 
1 
0 

3 

1 
1 
1 

0 
0 
3 
3 

0 
1 
1 
2 
2 
0 
0 
0 
1 
0 
0 
0 
1 
2 
1 
1 
0 
3 
0 
0 

280 
45 
107 branch 
organisations44 

Below 1 
n.a. 

12,000 
Over 100 

Below 1  
Below 1 

16 
Entire public 
sector  

800 
9 
400 
44 

Below 1  
Below 1 
Below 1 
Below 1 

Below 1  
n.a. 
20 
447 

591 

Below 1 

Below 1  

690 
Over 300 
19,000 
19 

2 
Below 1 
1 
Below 1  

26 
3 
31 
n.a. 

1,661 

Below 1  

Around 10  

44 The Bulgarian member of SGI Europe (AIKB/BICA) is significantly present and operates in 69 economic activities through 
107 branch member organisations. AIKB 2 claims to be a nationally representative employer organisation that is present 
and operates in the largest number of economic activities in Bulgaria. The key public services enterprises that are affiliated 
to it include Bulgarian Energy Holding EAD, Bulgarian Posts PLC, Bulgarian Telecommunication Company (VIVACOM), CEZ 
Distribution Bulgaria AD, the Chamber of Creators of Green Transport in Bulgaria, EuroHold Bulgaria Ltd, the Foundation 
‘Center for Safety and Health at Work’, Holding Bulgarian State Railways EAD, Sofiyska Voda JSC, Toplofikacia Sofia EAD and 
Veolia Water in Bulgaria. 
45 KT is considered representative for local and regional government employers, and VTML is considered representative for 
central government employers. At the time of the study, VTML was a member of SGI Europe, but this status has changed 
since.  
46 In France, SGI Europe has two affiliates: SGI France (which is not considered representative) and UDES (which is 
representative). 
47 Information about one employer organisation/business association is not available.  

41 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
In 12 Member States, SGI Europe has an affiliated organisation involved in social dialogue with trade 
unions at cross-industry level (this is not the case in Austria, Portugal or Spain). In 16 member 
organisations, this is tripartite cross-industry social dialogue and in 14 organisations it is bipartite 
cross-industry social dialogue. There are 16 organisations in 11 Member States involved in other 
kinds of collective determination of working conditions at cross-industry level. All 24 members are 
involved either in collective bargaining or in other kinds of collective determination of working 
conditions at cross-industry level. 

Table 35: Cross-sector-relatedness of SGI Europe’s 24 national affiliates (employer organisations and 
business associations) 

All or almost all sectors 
covered (>30) 

4 employer 
organisations/business 
associations in 4 Member States 

BG, EL, MT, PL 

Between 10 and 29 sectors 
covered 

5 employer 
organisations/business 
associations in 5 Member States 

AT, DE, ES, FI, SE 

Fewer than 10 sectors 
covered (1–9) 

15 employer 
organisations/business 
associations in 10 Member States 

BE, DE, DK, EL, FI, FR, IT, NL, PT, SE48 

Table 35 presents the cross-sector-relatedness of SGI Europe’s member organisations, summarising 
Table A6 in Annex 4. SGI Europe has four member organisations covering almost all sectors in four 
Member States. While 5 of its member organisations cover between 10 and 29 sectors, 15 members 
cover fewer than 10 sectors. 

Table 36 indicates the number of member organisations covering different types of companies and 
the proportion of all cross-industry organisations covering these types of companies. The bottom row 
indicates that there is an SGI Europe member organisation covering public sector employers in 13 
Member States. Privatised formerly state-owned companies are represented by SGI Europe members 
in eight Member States, and cooperatives are represented by SGI Europe members in five Member 
States.  

48 In Sweden, SGI Europe has three members. Two members cover fewer than 10 sectors, and one member covers between 
10 and 29 sectors. Hence, Sweden is mentioned twice.  

42 

 
 
 
 
 
Table 36: Categories of workers represented by SGI Europe member organisations 

Number of 
affiliated 
employer 
organisations/ 
business 
associations that 
organise these 
types of 
companies 

Total number of 
cross-industry 
employer 
organisations/ 
business 
associations that 
organise these 
types of 
companies 

% of all employer 
organisations/ 
business 
associations that 
organise these 
types of 
companies that 
are affiliated to 
SGI Europe 

Number of 
Member States in 
which SGI Europe 
has an affiliated 
organisation 
representing 
these types of 
companies 

Multinational 
companies 

Large companies (>250 
employees) 

SMEs (10–250 
employees) 

Micro firms (fewer 
than 10 employees) 

Private sector 
companies/employers 

Public sector 
employers 

Privatised formerly 
state-owned 
companies 

Cooperatives 

5 

15 

14 

10 

8 

20 

8 

5 

65 

90 

114 

105 

107 

50 

58 

49 

8% 

17% 

12% 

10% 

7% 

40% 

14% 

10% 

5 

13 

12 

9 

7 

13 

8 

5 

Half of SGI Europe’s 24 members have sectoral branches. Six have regional structures (more details 
can be found in Table A8 in Annex 4). A centralised membership database is maintained by 15 of SGI 
Europe’s member organisations. Four member organisations have membership databases at sectoral 
or regional level, and three provide data to central headquarters. In terms of internal decision-
making structures, 15 SGI Europe members engage in majority-based decision making, whereas 
seven use consensus (unanimity-based) decision-making. Within four SGI Europe members, the 
largest member organisations have more votes, while another four members have mechanisms in 
place to voice internal minority opinions. 

Table 37: Decision-making structures of SGI Europe member organisations 

Majority-based decision-making 

Largest member organisations 
have more votes 
Consensus-based decision-
making 
Mechanisms to voice internal 
minority positions 
Capacity to negotiate on behalf 
of all member organisations 

15 member 
organisations  
4 member 
organisations 
7 member 
organisations  
4 member 
organisations 
16 member 
organisations 

11 Member 
States 
4 Member 
States 
4 Member 
States 
4 Member 
States 
11 Member 
States 

AT, BG, DE, DK, EL, ES, FI, FR, IT, MT, SE 

DE, FR, IT, NL 

FR, MT, NL, SE 

AT, MT, NL, SE 

BG, DE, DK, EL, FI, FR, IT, MT, PL, NL, SE 

Three European sectoral organisations are affiliated to SGI Europe: EBU, HOSPEEM and EFEE. 

43 

 
  
 
 
3.9. National employer organisations and business associations not 
represented by BusinessEurope, SMEunited or SGI Europe 
Table 38 lists 26 cross-sector employer organisations and business associations that are not members 
of BusinessEurope, SMEunited or SGI Europe, but that are considered representative at national 
cross-industry level. Covering 13 Member States, these organisations represent a total of eight 
million member companies or organisations (for four organisations, this information was not 
available). Five organisations report a decreasing membership, eight report an increasing 
membership and six report a stable membership trend (information was not available for the 
remaining 11 organisations). 

Of the 28 employer organisations/business associations, 16 are involved in cross-industry collective 
bargaining and in other kinds of collective determination of working conditions. There are 19 
employer organisations/business associations involved in cross-industry bipartite social dialogue and 
24 that are involved in cross-industry tripartite social dialogue. 

The majority of the organisations (22) are considered employer organisations, with 6 considered 
business associations (in Germany, Lithuania and Romania). The country pages in Annex 1 help to 
situate these organisations in the industrial relations settings of their countries. 

44 

 
Table 38: List of national representative cross-sector employer organisations/business associations not affiliated to the current European social dialogue 
structures 

Type of 
organisation 

  Abbreviation of 
e
t
a
t
S
r
e
b
m
e
M

name in 
original 
language 

Does this employer 
organisation have 
companies/ 
employers as direct 
members or only 
indirectly via 
affiliated employer 
organisations? 

How many member 
enterprises does the 
employer organisation/ 
business association  
have in total (directly and 
indirectly via its affiliated 
organisations)? 

Proportion of 
entire 
workforce 
employed in the 
affiliated 
companies 

Is the employer 
organisation 
involved in 
cross-industry 
collective 
bargaining? 

Has 
membership 
been 
increasing, 
stable or 
decreasing over 
the last two to 
three years? 

Is the employer 
organisation 
involved in 
other kinds of 
collective 
determination 
of working 
conditions? 

Is there 
bipartite 
social 
dialogue? 

Is there 
tripartite 
social 
dialogue? 

Is the 
employer 
organisation 
considered 
representative 
in the 
country? 

BE 

Boerenbond 

Employer 
organisation 

Directly and indirectly 

15,729 

Stable 

Yes 

National cross-
industry employer 
and business 
organisation 

12,000 

28% Stable 

Peak-level 
organisation 

Collective members 
only 

9 collective members with 
22,500 member 
organisations 

1,300,000 Increasing 

Indirectly 

Over 5,500,000 businesses 

Increasing 

BG 

КРИБ 

CZ 

KZPS 

DE 

DIHK 

EL 

ΣΕΤΕ (SETE) 

HU 

STRATOSZ 

HU  VOSZ 

IT 

Confesercenti 

IT 

LEGACOOP 

Business 
organisation 

Employer 
organisation 

Employer 
organisation 

Employer 
organisation 

Employer 
association 

Employer 
association 

Both directly and 
indirectly 

Directly 

Both directly and 
indirectly 

Directly 

Directly 

Directly 

IT 

Confcooperativ
e 

Employer 
organisation 

IT 

FederTerziario  Employer 

Directly 

organisation 

LT 

LDK 

Confederation 

Yes 

21 

122,000 Decreasing 

58,000 

472,000 Increasing 

350,000 

1,100,000 Decreasing 

7,483,024 

448,490 Decreasing 

~19,000 

~90,000 

~850,000 Depends on the 
sector 

Stable 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

45 

 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
Type of 
organisation 

  Abbreviation of 
e
t
a
t
S
r
e
b
m
e
M

name in 
original 
language 

Does this employer 
organisation have 
companies/ 
employers as direct 
members or only 
indirectly via 
affiliated employer 
organisations? 

How many member 
enterprises does the 
employer organisation/ 
business association  
have in total (directly and 
indirectly via its affiliated 
organisations)? 

Proportion of 
entire 
workforce 
employed in the 
affiliated 
companies 

Is the employer 
organisation 
involved in 
cross-industry 
collective 
bargaining? 

Has 
membership 
been 
increasing, 
stable or 
decreasing over 
the last two to 
three years? 

Is the employer 
organisation 
involved in 
other kinds of 
collective 
determination 
of working 
conditions? 

Is there 
bipartite 
social 
dialogue? 

Is there 
tripartite 
social 
dialogue? 

Is the 
employer 
organisation 
considered 
representative 
in the 
country? 

LT 

LŽŪR 

Association/ 
chamber 

Yes 

56 legal entities 
(companies) and 25,000 
individual employers – 
farmers 

Decreasing 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

LT 

LT 

PL 

IF 

LVK 

ZP BCC  

PL 

ZPP 

PL 

FPP 

RO 

Coniprom 

RO 

PNR 

SK 

AZZZ SR 

SK 

ZMOS 

SK 

APZD 

SI 

GZS 

Association 

Confederation 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes, it has companies 
as direct members 

Both directly and 
indirectly 

Both directly and 
indirectly 

No 

Indirectly 

Both directly and 
indirectly 

Indirect 

Indirect 

Employer 
organisation 

Employer 
organisation 

Employer 
organisation 

Employer 
organisation 

Employer 
organisation 
confederation 

National/peak-
level employer 
organisation 

National/peak-
level employer 
organisation 

National/peak-
level employer 
organisation 

Employer 
organisation 

66 

~3,500 

n.a. 

57,820 Increasing 

200,000 Stable 

~ 400 000 
employees 

51,889 

~577,000  

1,300 

21 

324,906 Stable 

1,157 

262,519 

~11,000 

~340,000 Increasing 

~142,000 Stable 

~1,000 

~200,000 Increasing 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

No 

No 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

46 

Indirectly 

7,500 

40% Increasing 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Does this employer 
organisation have 
companies/ 
employers as direct 
members or only 
indirectly via 
affiliated employer 
organisations? 

How many member 
enterprises does the 
employer organisation/ 
business association  
have in total (directly and 
indirectly via its affiliated 
organisations)? 

Proportion of 
entire 
workforce 
employed in the 
affiliated 
companies 

Is the employer 
organisation 
involved in 
cross-industry 
collective 
bargaining? 

Has 
membership 
been 
increasing, 
stable or 
decreasing over 
the last two to 
three years? 

Is the employer 
organisation 
involved in 
other kinds of 
collective 
determination 
of working 
conditions? 

Is there 
bipartite 
social 
dialogue? 

Is there 
tripartite 
social 
dialogue? 

Is the 
employer 
organisation 
considered 
representative 
in the 
country? 

Directly 

3,400 

0.7%  

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Type of 
organisation 

  Abbreviation of 
e
t
a
t
S
r
e
b
m
e
M

name in 
original 
language 

SE 

Arbetsgivar-
alliansen 

Employer 
organisation for 
non-
governmental 
organisations 
(NGOs) and other 
employers of 
volunteer workers 

SE 

Fremia 

Employer 
organisation 

direct 

4,000 

2.7%  

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

47 

 
 
 
3.10. Other European organisations with representativeness of 
employers at national cross-industry level in some Member States 
Eurochambres has 25 affiliated organisations in 25 EU Member States (with the exception of 
Denmark and the Netherlands). Of these, eight organisations are recognised as representative in the 
industrial relations system of their countries. The Eurochambres affiliates (where information is 
available) represent some 17.9 million companies, that is, approximately 35% of all companies in the 
EU27. Their cumulative workforce represents around 40% of the EU workforce (this information was 
available for 12 Eurochambres members). 

An exact number of companies from a membership database was provided by 9 of the organisations 
affiliated to Eurochambres, while 10 organisations provided an estimate (this information was not 
available for the rest). 

The cross-industry organisation representing the most companies could be determined for 26 
Member States; for Bulgaria, this assessment is contested. 

In six Member States, the organisation with the largest number of affiliated companies is a member 
of Eurochambres (Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary and Malta). 

All 25 members of Eurochambres are directly affiliated. Six are considered employer organisations 
and 19 are either business associations or a combination of employer organisations/business 
associations. 

Five Eurochambres member organisations are involved in existing collective bargaining at cross-
industry level in five Member States: Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Lithuania and Slovenia. 

In 10 of the 25 Member States with Eurochambres affiliates, an affiliated organisation is involved in 
social dialogue with trade unions at cross-industry level (Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Finland, 
Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Malta and Slovenia). Nine member organisations take part in tripartite 
social dialogue, eight take part in bipartite social dialogue and eight take part in both tri- and 
bipartite social dialogue. Six organisations in six Member States are involved in other kinds of 
collective determination of working conditions.  

Table 39: Breakdown of Eurochambres membership numbers, by Member State 

Member 
State 

Total number of 
represented 
employer 
organisations/ 
business 
associations 

Number of 
affiliated 
employer 
organisations/ 
business 
associations 

Number of 
member 
organisations 
representative 
in Member 
States at cross-
industry level 

Number of 
represented 
companies 

EU27 

106 

25 

8  More than 18  
million 

AT 
BE 
BG 
CY 
CZ 
DE 
DK 
EE 
EL 

2 
6 
5 
2 
2 
7 
6 
1 
6 

1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
0 
1 
1 

1 
0 
1 
1 
0 
1 

0 
1 

663,534 
26,000 
46,000 
8,000 
16,000 
5,500,000 

As a 
proportion 
of all 
companies 
(%) 

As a 
proportion of 
the workforce 
in 
represented 
companies (%) 

~35   On average 
around 40 (12 
members) 
66 
60 
22 
80 

Around 90 
5 
13 
15 
Around 2  
Around 90 

5,000 
850,000 

Around 4 
Around 20  

Around 25 

48 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
ES 
FI 
FR 
HR 
HU 
IE 
IT 
LT 
LU 
LV 
MT 
NL 
PL 
PT 
RO 
SE 
SI 
SK 

4 
3 
3 
1 
5 
1 
14 
6 
1 
1 
3 
2 
6 
2 
3 
6 
4 
4 

1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
0 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 

0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
1 
0 
0 
1 

0 
0 
0 
0 
1 
0 

21,000 
3,800,000 
138,000 
500,000 
10,000 
6,000,000 
2,000 
96,250 
2,725  
800 

Around 6  
Around 90  
80 
Around 60  
Around 4 
Around 90  
Around 2  
Around 90  
Around 2 
3  

300,000 
1,126 

Around 15  
Around 1 

10,000 
7,500 
6,500  

Around 1  

Around 2 

40 

56 
66  
35 

10  
75  
Around 17  
54  

40  

Table 40: Cross-sector-relatedness of 25 Eurochambres national affiliates (employer organisations 
and business associations) 

All or almost all sectors 
covered (>30) 

17 employer 
organisations/business 
associations in 17 Member States 

AT, CY, CZ, EE, EL, FI, FR, HR, HU, IT, LT, 
LU, MT, PL, PT, SE, SK 

Between 10 and 29 sectors 
covered 

2 employer 
organisations/business 
associations in 2 Member States 

BG, RO 

Fewer than 10 sectors 
covered (1–9) 

Table 40 presents the cross-sector-relatedness of Eurochambres member organisations, summarising 
Tables A1-A9 in Annex 4. There are 17 member organisations covering almost all sectors in 17 
Member States. Two of the member organisations cover between 10 and 29 sectors. For the 
remaining members, this information is not known. 

Table 41 indicates the number of member organisations covering different types of companies and 
the proportion of all cross-industry organisations covering these types of companies. The bottom row 
indicates that there is a Eurochambres member organisation in each of 21 Member States that 
covers private sector employers, SMEs, micro firms and large companies. Multinational companies 
are represented in 18 Member States. Privatised formerly state-owned companies are represented 
by Eurochambres members in 14 Member States and cooperatives are represented by Eurochambres 
members in 15 Member States. 

49 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table 41: Categories of companies represented by Eurochambres member organisations 

Number of 
affiliated 
employer 
organisations/ 
business 
associations that 
organise these 
types of 
companies 

Total number of 
cross-industry 
employer 
organisations/ 
business 
associations that 
organise these 
types of 
companies 

% of all employer 
organisations/ 
business 
associations 
organising these 
types of 
companies that 
are affiliated to 
Eurochambres 

Number of 
Member States in 
which 
Eurochambres 
has an affiliated 
organisation 
representing 
these types of 
companies 

Multinational 
companies 

Large companies  
(>250 employees) 

SMEs  
(10–250 employees) 

Micro firms (fewer 
than 10 employees) 

Private sector 
companies/employers 

Public sector 
employers 

Privatised formerly 
state-owned 
companies 

Cooperatives 

18 

21 

21 

21 

21 

8 

14 

15 

65 

90 

114 

105 

107 

50 

58 

49 

28% 

23% 

19% 

21% 

21% 

16% 

24% 

31% 

18 

21 

21 

21 

21 

8 

14 

15 

Sector branches can be found among Eurochambres members in 11 Member States, and 19 member 
organisations have regional structures. More than half of Eurochambres member organisations (15) 
maintain a centralised membership database. While two member organisations have maintained 
membership databases at the sectoral or regional level, three provide data to central headquarters. 

In terms of internal decision-making structures, 15 Eurochambres members engage in majority-based 
decision-making and three in consensus (unanimity)-based decision-making. In two Eurochambres 
members, the largest member organisations have more votes and, in four member organisations, 
there are mechanisms in place to voice internal minority opinions. There are 13 Eurochambres 
members with the capacity to negotiate on behalf of their member organisations. 

50 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Table 42: Decision-making structures of Eurochambres member organisations 

Majority-based decision-making 

Largest member organisations 
have more votes 
Consensus-based decision-
making 
Mechanisms to voice internal 
minority positions 
Capacity to negotiate on behalf 
of all member organisations 

15 member 
organisations  
2 member 
organisations 
3 member 
organisations  
4 member 
organisations 
13 member 
organisations 

15 Member 
States 
2 Member 
States 
3 Member 
States 
4 Member 
States 
13 Member 
States 

BG, CY, CZ, DE, EE, HR, HU, IT, LV, MT, 
PL, PT, RO, SI, SK 
FI, MT 

LT, LU, SE 

AT, BG, CY, EL 

AT, CY, CZ, EE, HR, HU, LT, LV, MT, PL, 
RO, SI, SK 

3.11. Effective participation in the EU cross-industry social dialogue 
There were three plenary meetings of the cross-industry social dialogue in 2021 (on 3 February, 16 
June and 28 September) and three in 2022 (on 8 February, 14 June and 27 September). Among both 
the trade unions and the employer organisations, the average number of delegates participating was 
30 (Table 43). In the 2018–2019 (pre-COVID-19) period, there were also three meetings each year, with 
on average 21 participating delegates for the trade unions and 20 for the employer organisations. 

Table 43: Participation in the EU cross-industry social dialogue meetings, 2021–2022 

Meeting 

February meeting 

June meeting 

September meeting 

Trade union delegates 
2021 
21 from 17 
Member States 
34 from 17 
Member States 
37 from 19 
Member States 

2022 
35 from 20 
Member States 
23 from 13 
Member States 
30 from 17 
Member States 

Employer organisation delegates 

2021 

34 from 17 
Member States 
34 from 14 
Member States 
31 from 16 
Member States 

2022 

30 from 15 
Member States 
24 from 15 
Member States 
31 from 17 
Member States 

Source: Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion 

ETUC has member unions in all 27 Member States, CEC European Managers has member unions in 13 
Member States and Eurocadres has member unions in 21 Member States. On the employers’ side, 
BusinessEurope has member organisations in all 27 Member States, SMEunited has member 
organisations in 26 Member States and SGI Europe has member organisations in 15 Member States. 
Since both ETUC and BusinessEurope have members in all 27 Member States, there could 
theoretically be delegates from all 27 Member States participating in the meetings of the EU cross-
industry social dialogue. 

In 2021–2022, trade union delegates from 22 Member States participated. The five Member States 
with no participation in this period were Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece and Slovenia. For Portugal 
and Slovakia, there was only one participant in one of the six meetings during 2021–2022. This is 
comparable to the level of participation in 2018–2019, when there were delegates from 23 Member 
States (no participation from Cyprus, Greece, Malta or Slovenia). In both periods, there was no 
participation from Cyprus, Greece or Slovenia (Table 44). 

51 

 
 
 
Table 44: Trade union participation in the EU cross-industry social dialogue, 2021–2022 and 2018–
2019 

2021–2022 

22 Member States 

2018–2019 
(pre-COVID-19) 

23 Member States (+ UK) 

No participation from CY, EE, EL, HR, SI 
From PT and SK, only one participant in one 
meeting 
No participation from CY, EL, MT, SI 

Source: Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion 

In  2021–2022,  employer  organisation  delegates  from  20  Member  States  participated.  The  seven 
Member  States  with  no  participation  in  this  period  were  Croatia,  Estonia,  Ireland,  Luxembourg, 
Portugal, Slovakia and Slovenia. In addition, there was only one participant in one of the six meetings 
from Lithuania and Malta during this period. This is comparable to the level of participation in 2018–
2019, when there were delegates from  19 Member States, but none from Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, 
Ireland, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovakia and Slovenia. In both periods, there was no participation from 
Croatia, Estonia, Ireland, Portugal, Slovenia or Slovakia (Table 45). 

Table 45: Employers’ participation in the EU cross-industry social dialogue, 2021–2022 and 2018–
2019 

2021–2022 

20 Member States 

2018–2019 
(pre-COVID-19) 

19 Member States (+ UK) 

No participation from EE, HR, IE, LU, PT, SI, SK 
From LT and MT, only one participant in one 
meeting 
No participation from CY, EE, HR, IE, LT, PT, SI, SK 

Source: Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion 

3.12. EU cross-industry social partners’ mandate and capacity to 
negotiate agreements 
This section sets out the background to social dialogue in the EU27.49 

The Commission first referred to the concept of the ‘capacity to negotiate’ in its communication on 
the application of the 1992 Agreement on Social Policy (European Commission, 1993). 
Representativeness became the key issue of dispute in the UEAPME legal case in 1996. Annex 3 of 
the 1993 communication defined the criteria for representativeness and set out that these criteria 
should be used to determine those organisations eligible to be consulted in European social dialogue. 

According to the 1993 communication (European Commission, 1993), ‘organisations [that] are 
potentially eligible to be consulted’ under Article 154 of the TFEU must: 

•  be cross-industry or relate to specific sectors or categories and be organised at European level 

•  consist of organisations that are themselves an integral and recognised part of Member State 

social partner structures and have the capacity to negotiate agreements, and that are 
representative of all Member States, as far as possible 

•  have adequate structures to ensure their effective participation in the consultation process 

49 Credits for this section go to Christian Welz. It draws partially on Welz (2008) and Eurofound (2014), as well as 
Eurofound’s web page on the methodology for representativeness studies: 
https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/en/representativeness-studies-methodology  

52 

 
 
 
 
The European cross-sector social partners ETUC, CEEP (now SGI Europe) and UNICE reacted with a 
position paper to the Commission’s first communication on social dialogue from 1993 (European 
Commission, 1993). In their proposals for the implementation of the agreement annexed to the 
Protocol on Social Policy of the Treaty on European Union of 29 October 1993, ETUC, CEEP and UNICE 
tabled a more detailed and encompassing list of conditions to be met by organisations to be 
consulted by the Commission: 

In order to be regarded as such … the organizations involved under Articles 3 and 4 of the 
Agreement should meet all the following conditions: … 

•  be composed of members with the right to be involved, directly or through their 

members, in collective negotiations at their respective levels. 

The EESC claimed in its 1994 opinion that ‘the social partners at EC level are to be selected having 
regard to the nature of the process and of the outcome of EC social dialogue. These would indicate 
transnational criteria linked to national social partners, and organizational capacity’ (EESC, 1994, 
paragraph 2.1.9). The EESC proposed an additional criterion, that is, the capacity to negotiate binding 
agreements: ‘Criteria should also include capacity to negotiate for and bind national structures’ 
(EESC, 1994, paragraph 2.1.12, 8). Thus, according to the EESC, the European social partners 
engaging in negotiations should have the capacity to negotiate agreements that are potentially 
binding on the national industrial relations structures. 

In April 1994, the European Parliament’s Committee on Social Affairs, Employment and the Working 
Environment published a report on the application of the Agreement on Social Policy (European 
Parliament, 1994). In this report, the committee proposed that the representativeness criteria of the 
Commission be complemented with the following two conditions: 

1.  eligible organisations should be composed of organisations representing employers or workers 

with membership that is voluntary at both national and European levels 

2.  eligible organisations should have a mandate from their members to represent them in the 
context of the Community social dialogue and are to demonstrate their representativity 

In 1997, the EESC issued an opinion on the Commission communication concerning the development 
of social dialogue at Community level (EESC, 1997). In paragraph 1.8, the EESC came up with its own 
list of criteria that representative organisations should satisfy: ‘the European organization must have 
a mandate from its member organisations to negotiate at European level’. 

The European Commission continued to insist on the importance of the capacity to negotiate 
agreements in its 2010 staff working document (European Commission, 2010, p. 13): 

In its 1998 Communication on European social dialogue, the Commission encouraged the 
development of joint actions and negotiations at both cross-industry and sectoral level. It 
particularly highlighted the potential of European sectoral social dialogue. 

As a result, the capacity to negotiate agreements at European level was included among the conditions 
for participating in a committee. 

On 16 June 2016 in Amsterdam, the Council of the European Union published its conclusions on ‘A 
New  Start for  a  Strong  Social Dialogue’  (Council of  the European  Union,  2016). The  concept  of  the 
capacity to negotiate at European level also plays a role in these conclusions (Directorate-General for 
Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, 2016): 

53 

 
The cross-industry and sectoral social partners will … improve membership and 
representativeness of both trade unions and employer organisations, and ensure that 
there is capacity to enter into negotiations with an appropriate mandate. 

In its representativeness studies, Eurofound renders this criterion more precisely by distinguishing 
between different kinds of mandates. In order to fulfil the criterion of the ‘capacity to negotiate’, a 
European association must be able to prove its capacity to negotiate on behalf of its affiliates and to 
enter into ‘contractual relations, including agreements’ (Article 155 of the TFEU), that is, the capacity 
to commit itself and its national affiliates. This criterion refers to the capacity to negotiate 
agreements as set out in Article 155 of the TFEU; negotiating other types of joint texts (such as joint 
opinions, frameworks of action and guidelines) – however valuable they may be – is not considered 
to be sufficient for the mapping exercise of this report, that is, the capacity to negotiate agreements. 

A European organisation has the capacity to negotiate such an agreement if it has received a 
mandate to do so from its affiliates or if it can receive such a mandate in accordance with a given 
mandating procedure. In the English version, the criterion to ‘have the capacity to negotiate 
agreements’ may be read as referring to associations at national level, whereas in the French, 
German and Italian versions this requirement clearly refers to the EU-level social partners only. 
Eurofound has applied the criterion of the ‘capacity to negotiate’ to both the EU-level partner 
associations and, in the bottom-up approach, the national associations in order to assess their 
relevance. Following these arguments, the standard Eurofound methodology for assessing the 
criteria of being an ‘integral part of Member State industrial relations’ and the ‘capacity to negotiate’ 
applies the ‘capacity to negotiate agreements’ to both EU and national levels. 

The mandate/mandating procedure can be either statutory (that is, laid down in the statutes 
(constitution) of the organisation or annexed to them) or non-statutory (that is, laid down in 
secondary (formal) documents, such as rules of procedure, memoranda of understanding or 
decisions by the governing bodies of the organisation). The mandate will be described in terms of the 
conditions and procedure for the European social partner organisation to be given the authorisation 
to enter into a specific negotiation, as well as for the ratification of a possible agreement. If no such 
formal mandating procedure can be identified, it should be considered that the condition concerned 
is not fulfilled. European social partners will be asked to provide proof of their statutes or any other 
written documentation describing their mandate and capacity to negotiate, as well as of the 
ratification procedures in place (Eurofound, 2014). 

Taking this distinction between different forms of mandates into consideration, the situation of each 
EU cross-industry social partner is described below. 

ETUC 
ETUC has a detailed statutory mandate in Article 13 of its 2019 statutes (ETUC, 2019) determining, 
together with separate rules of procedure, how social dialogue mandates are obtained and handled 
during negotiations and how final decisions are taken. 

Article 13 of the 2019 ETUC statutes (ETUC, 2019) stipulates: 

The Executive Committee shall determine the composition and mandate of the 
delegation for negotiations with European employer organisations in each individual 
case, in accordance with the voting procedures set out in Article 19. The decision shall 
have the support of at least two thirds of the representatives in the Executive Committee 
from member organisations directly concerned by the negotiations. In cases of urgency, 

54 

 
decisions concerning the mandate for composition of the delegation may be made in 
writing. The Executive Committee shall establish the internal rules of procedure to be 
followed in the event of negotiations. The Secretariat shall supervise the bargaining 
delegation. The Executive Committee shall be given regular progress reports on 
bargaining in progress. Decisions on the outcomes of negotiations shall be taken by the 
Executive Committee in accordance with the voting procedures set out in Article 19. The 
decision shall have the support of at least two thirds of the representatives in the 
Executive Committee from organisations directly concerned by the negotiations. Their 
organisations shall have had the opportunity to hold internal consultations. Regular 
reports on European sectoral bargaining, carried out by European Trade Union 
Federations, shall be made to the Executive Committee. Its consistency with ETUC policy 
shall thus be ensured. 

CEC European Managers 
CEC European Managers does not have a statutory mandate in light of its statutes from 8 December 
2020. According to the previous Eurofound representativeness study from 2014, however, CEC 
European Managers has a de facto mandate. CEC European Managers reports that it has a solid 
mandate, both internally and externally, based on established practices and email exchanges with its 
members. However, these procedures are yet to be officialised in the internal regulation. The 
organisation signed a cooperation agreement, on the basis of which the liaison committee was 
founded. It is via that liaison committee that both Eurocadres and CEC European Managers 
participate in the European social dialogue (Eurofound, 2014; see also CEC European Managers, 
2020).50 

Eurocadres 
Eurocadres has a statutory mandate in Article 2 of its constitution (Eurocadres, 2021), revised on 21 
October 2020: ‘Eurocadres voices the cross-sectoral interest of professionals and managers through 
advocacy, social dialogue, collective bargaining and joint work with member organisations and 
cooperation partners’. In addition, in 2011, Eurocadres signed a special agreement on representation 
with ANSE. This agreement specifies that Eurocadres represents ANSE in the framework of European 
social dialogue.51 Thus, Eurocadres also has another mandate procedure. 

BusinessEurope 
BusinessEurope has a detailed statutory mandate in the final point of Article 6.3 (in conjunction with 
Article 7.7) of its statutes,52 as updated in 2022. Article 6.3’s final point states: 

Furthermore, only the Council of Presidents is empowered inter alia: 

… to define the attitude to be taken by the Association and approve results negotiated in 
the framework of the dialogue between the social partners. 

Article 7.7 lays down that: 

In the framework of the social dialogue between the social partners within the meaning 
of article 6.3, the Council of Presidents may deliberate validly only if the number of 
members present or validly represented comprises at least two thirds of members of the 

50 See CEC European Managers, Eurocadres and ANSE cooperation agreement. 
51 See ANSE and Eurocadres agreement on representation in social dialogue of 23 November 2011. 
52 BusinessEurope, The Confederation of European Business, A.I.S.B.L., last updated by General Assembly in June 2022. 

55 

 
 
association whose country is affected by the decision in question. The decision to enter 
into negotiations in the framework of the dialogue between the social partners within 
the terms of article 6.3 may be approved by the Association only if at least four-fifths of 
the votes cast are in favour, by at least 50% of the members entitled to vote. Only those 
having voting rights and whose country is affected by the decision in question are 
entitled to vote. Any draft agreement negotiated in the framework of the dialogue 
between the social partners may only be approved by the Association on the basis of 
consensus among all the members having voting rights and whose country is affected by 
the agreement in question. 

SMEunited 
SMEunited has an ad hoc mandate based on consensus, which is adopted by a simple majority and 
based on the outcome of negotiations. SMEunited participates in European social dialogue on the basis 
of  the  cooperation  agreement  with  UNICE  of  4  December  1998  (Eurofound,  2014);  SMEunited  is 
mandated in its procedures for negotiations in the social dialogue of 6 December 1999. 

SGI Europe 
SGI Europe has a very detailed non-statutory mandate based on its statutes (SGI Europe, 2020), and 
specified in Title X on social dialogue of its rules of procedure (Articles 45–51), approved by the 
General Assembly on 17 June 2021 (SGI Europe, 2021). Article 46 states that: ‘In connection with 
preparing European collective agreements as envisaged in Article 152–155 of the Treaty on European 
Union the procedure will comply with Articles 47 to 49 below’. Article 47 states that: 

During the first phase of the consultations, the opinion to be produced on whether 
legislation should be introduced or whether a European agreement should be concluded 
between the social partners shall be issued by the General Assembly after consulting the 
Social Affairs Board. If the opinion authorises the subsequent request for an agreement, 
the Social Affairs Board shall be given a negotiating mandate. This mandate shall specify 
the purpose of the negotiations. 

56 

 
 
 
3.13. Overview of the representativeness of the European cross-industry organisations (EU social partners and 
other organisations) 
Table 46: Overview of the representativeness of the European cross-industry organisations 

Organisation 

All affiliated organisations 

Affiliated organisations that are recognised as representative at national 
level 

Membership 
domain 

All 

Organisations 
covering >30 
sectors 

Organisations 
covering 10–
29 sectors 

Organisations 
covering <10 
sectors 

ETUC 

CEC European 
Managers 
Eurocadres 

CESI 

74 in 27 
Member States 

14 in 13 
Member States 
49 in 21 
Member States 

27 in 11 
Member States 

BusinessEurope  32 in 27 

SMEunited 

Member States 

36 in 26 
Member States 

50 in 24 
Member 
States 
6 in 6 Member 
States 
37 in 18 
Member 
States 
7 in 4 Member 
States 

19 in 17 
Member 
States 
9 in 8 Member 
States 

SGI Europe 

24 in 15 
Member States 

4 in 4 Member 
States 

16 in 10 
Member 
States 
3 in 3 Member 
States 
7 in 4 Member 
States 

8 in 5 Member 
States 

13 in 13 
Member 
States 
22 in 18 
Member 
States 
5 in 5 Member 
States 

Affiliated 
organisations 
representative at 
national level 
62 in 27 Member 
States 

4 in 4 Member 
States 
39 in 21 Member 
States 

10 in 9 Member 
States 

Organisations 
covering >30 sectors 

Organisations 
covering 10–29 
sectors 

Organisations 
covering <10 
sectors 

43 in 24 Member 
States  

15 in 10 
Member States  

4 in 3 Member 
States 

All types of 
employees 

4 in 4 Member States    

31 in 18 Member 
States  

6 in 3 Member 
States 

2 in 2 Member 
States  

3 in 3 Member States   4 in 3 Member 

States 

3 in 3 Member 
States 

Management 
staff 
Management 
staff 

30 in 27 Member 
States 

18 in 18 Member 
States  

12 in 12 
Member States  

0 

All types of 
companies 

8 in 6 Member 
States 

0 

5 in 5 Member 
States 

12 in 9 
Member 
States 
0 

5 in 5 Member 
States 

23 in 17 Member 
States 

5 in 5 Member States   11 in 9 Member 

States  

7 in 7 Member 
States 

Mainly SMEs 

15 in 10 
Member 
States 

17 in 11 Member 
States 

3 in 3 Member States   2 in 2 Member 

States 

12 in 7 Member 
States  

Public service 
employers53 

53 In three Member States, SGI Europe is affiliated to national employer organisations/business associations that also have a very broad membership, including and beyond companies of general 
public interest and public services. 

57 

 
 
 
 
Eurochambres  25 in 25 

Member States 

17 in 17 
Member 
States 

2 in 2 Member 
States 

8 in 8 Member 
States 

7 in 7 Member States   1 in 1 Member 

States 

Note: Green cells indicate the number of organisations deemed representative at cross-industry level in their countries. Orange cells represent other European organisations 
that are not considered European cross-industry social partners. 

Source: Authors 

58 

 
 
 
 
 
 
A comparison with the situation from 2013 (as presented in the 2014 cross-industry 
representativeness study; Eurofound, 2014) is given in Table 47 (in Eurofound, 2014, see tables 5 and 
7 for trade unions and tables 6 and 8 for employer organisations). 

Table 47: Comparison of the European cross-industry social partners in 2013 and 2022 

ETUC 

CEC European 
Managers 
Eurocadres 

Affiliated organisations 
in 2022–2023 
74 in 27 Member States 

Affiliated organisations in 
2013 

68 in 27 Member States 

Change between 2013 and 
2022 
+6 organisations 

14 in 13 Member States 

12 in 10 Member States 

49 in 21 Member States 

39 in 20 Member States 

+2 organisations in +2 
Member States 
+10 organisations in +1 
Member State 

BusinessEurope 

32 in 27 Member States 

28 in 27 Member States 

+4 organisations 

SMEunited 

36 in 26 Member States 

36 in 26 Member States 

No change 

SGI Europe 

24 in 15 Member States 

28 in 16 Member States 

-4 organisations in -1 
Member State 

Note: Green indicates the organisations that gained members, orange the organisations whose membership 
has declined.  

Source: Authors 

Figures 4–6 summarise the key findings from the Eurofound (2014) study in a visual form. 

Figure 4: Membership domain of European cross-industry trade unions, 2013 

59 

Number of a liated TU that organise the following categories of workersNumber of tradeunions a liated tothat organise theseprofessional groups                                                                                                                                   6  (66 )27MS53 (75 )26 MSNot in EE71(61 )27 MS6  (64 )27MS54 (54 )25 MSNotin DE, PT69 (67 )27 MS6 (65 )27 MS45 (79 )24 MSNot in BE, C , DE    5 (5 )5 MS3 (4 )3 MS7 (6 )7 MS  (7 )  MS11 (11 )11 MS2(2 )2 MS1 (1 )1 MS2 (4 )2 MS                    422 MS361  MS4 2  MS472  MS       472  MS392  MS331  MS          14 (15 )1  MS6 (  )6 MS             1  (17 )1  MS17 (17 )1  MS16 (16 )12MS16 (17 )12 MS7 (12 )9 MS    91(1   )71(1   )117(1   )1 7(1   )1  (1   )1 3(1   )92(1   )57(1   )Total number ofTUs organisingthese groups                                                                          
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 5: Membership domain of European cross-industry employer organisations, 2013 

Figure 6: Conclusions on the representativeness of European cross-industry social partners and other 
organisations, 2013 

60 

Numberofa liatedEO/BAthatorganisethefollowingtypesofcompaniesNumberofa liatedEO/BAthatorganisethesetypesofcompaniesCoopera vesPriva sedformerlystate ownedcompaniesPublicsectoremployersPrivatesectorcompanies/employersMicro rms(lessthan1 employees)SmallandMediumsi edcompanies(1  25 employees)Largecompanies( 25 employees)Mul na onalcompanies12(24 )11MS26(45 )23MS13(26 )12MS29(27 )27MS29(2  )27MS33(29 )27MS31(34 )27MS3 (46 )27MSBusinessEurope11(22 )9MS (14 )7MS6(12 )5MS33(31 )24MS36(34 )24MS34(3  )24MS14(16 )11MS7(11 )7MSSMEunited5(1  )5MS (14 ) MS2 (4  )13MS (7 )7MS1 (1  )9MS14(12 )12MS15(17 )13MS5(  )5MSSGIEurope49(1   )5 (1   )5 (1   )1 7(1   )1 5(1   )114(1   )9 (1   )65(1   )Totalnumberofcross industryEO/BAthatorganisethesetypesofcompanies                                                                              MS 2Representa veTUWorkforceTUmembers1  29sectors 3  sector19  M workers27MS612     22 66 ETUC3MS3 .5 1.5 21 43 CECEuropean Managers2 MS3914 76 Eurocadres9 MS16Not represented1 /14MS1 3.5 14 3  25 CESIMS1 6Representa veEOWorkforceCompanies1  29sectors 3  sector27 M companies27MS3333 27 45 55 BusinessEurope1 MS2715 33 61 25 SMEunited9 MS191   .2 2  15 SGIEurope13 MS29Not represented MS 4  35   6  Eurochambres 
 
4. Conclusions 

The EU workforce consists of 190 million people in employment, with some 164 million employees 
and 25 million self-employed workers. Two-thirds of the EU workforce are employed in the five 
largest Member States: Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Poland. The gender breakdown of the 
entire EU workforce is 46% women and 54% men. Altogether, 79% are employed in the private 
sector and 21% are employed in the public sector. Among all employees, 6% hold a management 
position. 

There are about 27 million companies in the EU27. Of these, 92% are micro firms with fewer than 10 
employees, which provide employment for 28% of the EU workforce. A further 5.5% of companies 
have between 10 and 19 employees, providing employment for 17% of the EU workforce. In the 
middle, 1.3% of companies have 20–49 employees, which provide employment to 6% of the 
workforce, and 1.2% of companies have between 50 and 249 employees, providing employment to 
18% of the workforce. Finally, the largest companies, with 250 employees or more (0.2% of 
companies in the EU27), employ 31% of the EU workforce. 

This study included 130 national trade union organisations representing employees and 143 national 
employer organisations and business associations representing companies at cross-industry level. 

Of the 130 trade unions included, 82 (63%) are recognised as representative cross-industry social 
partner organisations. For some, this is based on their capacity to negotiate collective bargaining 
agreements at cross-industry level in their countries. Most trade unions, however, are recognised as 
representative cross-industry social partner organisations based on their membership of cross-
industry social dialogue structures. This membership can be based on the fulfilment of specific 
criteria or on simple mutual recognition. 

Of the 143 employer organisations and business associations included, 106 (74%) are recognised as 
representative cross-industry social partner organisations. For some, this is based on their capacity to 
negotiate collective bargaining agreements at cross-industry level in their countries. Most employer 
organisations, however, are recognised as representative cross-industry social partner organisations 
based on their membership of cross-industry social dialogue structures. This membership can be 
based on the fulfilment of specific criteria or on simple mutual recognition. 

Chapter 3 of this report presented an assessment of the representativeness of the European cross-
industry social partner organisations. This assessment is based on detailed tables included in the 
annexes of this report. 

ETUC has 74 affiliated trade unions across all 27 Member States. It has 62 affiliated trade unions that 
are considered to be representative cross-industry social partner organisations at national level, with 
at least one in each of the Member States. Based on the available data on employee affiliation to the 
ETUC member unions, its membership strength covers at least 37 million employees, that is, about 
80% of all trade union members and 22% of all employees in the EU27. In terms of cross-sector-
relatedness, 50 ETUC member unions in 24 Member States have a wide cross-sectoral membership 
domain, namely covering 30 sectors or more. 

There are 24 ETUC members that are represented only by ETUC in European cross-industry social 
dialogue (they do not belong to any other European-level cross-industry social partner 
organisations). One ETUC member is also affiliated to CEC European Managers, and 47 ETUC 
members are also affiliated to Eurocadres. 

61 

 
There are 54 representative cross-industry trade unions at national level that are not affiliated to 
ETUC, in 20 Member States. Twelve of them are represented by other European cross-industry trade 
unions (Eurocadres and/or CEC European Managers). 

CEC European Managers has 14 affiliated national trade unions in 13 Member States, of which four 
are recognised as representative social partner organisations at cross-industry level. In Denmark, 
France, Italy and Sweden, CEC European Managers has an affiliated representative cross-industry 
trade union. 

Based on the available numbers, the collective membership strength of the CEC European Managers 
unions is about 600,000 employees, which corresponds to 6% of the 10 million employees who hold 
management positions in the EU27 and about 0.4% of the entire EU workforce. Six of the CEC 
European Managers member unions have a wide cross-sectoral membership domain, namely 
covering 30 sectors or more. This is the case for Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, France, Germany and 
Italy. 

Eleven affiliated trade unions are represented only by CEC European Managers in the European 
cross-industry social dialogue. One member of CEC European Managers is also affiliated to ETUC, and 
the same member is also affiliated to Eurocadres. 

Eurocadres has 49 affiliated national trade unions in 21 Member States, of which 39 are 
representative cross-industry social partner organisations in their countries. This is the case in 21 
Member States. There are six Member States in which Eurocadres does not have an affiliated cross-
sector trade union: Croatia, Cyprus, Ireland, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia. 

Eurocadres focuses on employees in managerial positions. The affiliated trade unions have a much 
wider membership domain, however. According to the Eurocadres estimate, around 5.8 million of 
their members are employees with a management position. 

Eurocadres is linked to ETUC; it has the status of a ‘specific structure of the ETUC’ and brings together 
ETUC affiliates, which organise professional and managerial staff. The ETUC Constitution grants 
Eurocadres the right to participate in ETUC committees and statutory bodies, such as the ETUC 
Congress, with all rights, except voting rights. The Eurocadres Constitution in return requires all trade 
unions that wish to join Eurocadres to also be part of ETUC. Subsequently, all member organisations 
of Eurocadres are also affiliated to ETUC. 

As listed in Section 3.4, there are 16 trade unions that are not represented in European cross-
industry social dialogue by ETUC, CEC European Managers or Eurocadres in nine Member States. The 
Member States with a representative national cross-industry trade unions that is not represented in 
European cross-industry social dialogue are Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, 
Luxembourg, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. Another six Member States were identified in which there 
are trade unions that are not represented in EU social dialogue but are also not considered 
representative in their countries: France, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Romania and Slovakia. 

The national trade unions not represented in the European cross-industry social dialogue have a 
collective membership strength of four million affiliated employees, which corresponds to 8.6% of all 
trade union members in the EU27 and 2.4% of the entire EU workforce. The 16 trade unions that are 
deemed representative in the national industry relations setting that are not represented in the EU 
cross-industry social dialogue represent 1% of the EU workforce and 5% of all trade union members 
in the EU27. 

62 

 
Other European trade union organisations with representativeness at cross-industry level in some 
Member States can be found in CESI. CESI has 20 directly affiliated organisations, with at least one in 
the following 10 Member States: Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, 
the Netherlands, Romania and Spain). CESI has a further seven members that are affiliated indirectly 
to CESI in seven Member States (Austria, France, Latvia, Malta, the Netherlands, Romania and 
Slovakia). Ten of the 27 direct and indirect members are recognised as representative in the 
industrial relations systems of their countries (the one trade union in Lithuania has recently obtained 
this status). Together, the 27 CESI members represent about 6.6 million trade union members, that 
is, approximately 6% of all employees in the EU27 and about 15% of the 44 million cross-sector trade 
union members in the EU27. 

Half of CESI’s 27 members (direct and indirect) are not represented in European cross-industry social 
dialogue by ETUC, CEC European Managers or Eurocadres. Three among this group are considered 
representative at cross-industry level in their countries. 

BusinessEurope has 32 affiliated cross-industry employer organisations/business associations in all 
27 Member States. Of these, 30 are considered to be representative cross-industry social partner 
organisations at national level and are found in each of the 27 Member States. Based on the available 
data on affiliated members, BusinessEurope’s membership strength represents about six million 
companies, which is approximately 27% of all companies in the EU27, while the cumulative 
workforce of its affiliates represents one-third of the EU workforce. BusinessEurope’s member 
organisations have a wide cross-sectoral membership domain. BusinessEurope has 19 member 
organisations covering almost all sectors in 17 EU Member States. While 13 of its member 
organisations cover between 10 and 29 sectors, none of its members covers fewer than 10 sectors. 

A total of 27 BusinessEurope members are represented only by BusinessEurope in European cross-
industry social dialogue (they do not belong to any other European-level cross-industry social partner 
organisation). Two members are also affiliated to SMEunited and one member is affiliated to SGI 
Europe. 

SMEunited has 36 affiliated cross-industry employer organisations/business associations in 26 
Member States. Of its members, 23 are considered to be representative cross-industry social partner 
organisations at national level in 18 Member States. Based on the available numbers of affiliated 
members, SMEunited’s membership strength represents about 7.4 million companies, which is 
approximately 33% of all companies in the EU27, while the cumulative workforce of its affiliates 
represents slightly more than 15% of the EU workforce. 

SMEunited’s member organisations have a wide cross-sectoral membership domain. SMEunited has 
nine member organisations covering almost all sectors in eight EU Member States. While 22 of its 
member organisations cover between 10 and 29 sectors in 18 EU Member States, 5 cover fewer than 
10 sectors in 5 Member States. 

Most SMEunited members (32) are represented only by SMEunited in European cross-industry social 
dialogue (they do not belong to any other European-level cross-industry social partner organisation). 
Two members are also affiliated to BusinessEurope; none is affiliated to SGI Europe. 

SGI Europe has 24 affiliated cross-industry employer organisations/business associations in 15 
Member States. Of these, 17 are considered to be representative cross-industry social partner 
organisations at national level in 11 Member States. Based on the available numbers of the affiliated 
members, SGI Europe’s membership strength represents about 36,000 companies, which is 

63 

 
approximately 2% of all companies in the EU27, while the cumulative workforce of its affiliates 
represents 10–15% of the EU workforce. 

SGI Europe’s members have a concentrated cross-sectoral membership domain. Four members cover 
almost all sectors in four EU Member States, while five members cover between 10 and 29 sectors 
and 15 cover fewer than 10 sectors. 

Almost all SGI Europe members are represented only by SGI Europe in European cross-industry social 
dialogue (they do not belong to any other European-level cross-industry social partner organisation). 
Just one member is also affiliated to BusinessEurope; none is affiliated to SMEunited. 

In total, 28 of the 106 cross-sector employer organisations/business associations are not members 
of BusinessEurope, SMEunited or SGI Europe in 13 Member States. In total, these organisations have 
around eight million member companies or organisations (for four organisations, this information 
was not available). Thirty employer organisations/business associations are considered 
representative in their countries. 

Turning to other European associations representing employers at cross-industry level, 
Eurochambres has 25 affiliated organisations in 25 Member States (excluding Denmark and the 
Netherlands). Of these, eight are recognised as representative in the industrial relations systems of 
their countries. The Eurochambres affiliates (where information is available) represent some 17.9 
million companies, that is, approximately 35% of all companies in the EU27. This represents some 
40% of the EU workforce. 

Twenty Eurochambres members are represented only by Eurochambres in European cross-industry 
social dialogue (they do not belong to any other European-level cross-industry social partner 
organisation). Two members are also affiliated to BusinessEurope, three are affiliated to SMEunited 
and none is affiliated to SGI Europe. 

64 

 
 
 
Bibliography 

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Managerial Staff (Eurocadres) on representation in the social dialogue 

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65 

 
European Commission (2004), Partnership for change in an enlarged Europe – Enhancing the 
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66 

 
Annex 1: Country pages (EU27) 

Note: Throughout this annex, orange cells indicate organisations that are not considered representative at cross-industry level, although they are included here because of their 
relevance in the cross-industry industrial relations landscape or because of their affiliation to European cross-industry social partner organisations. 

Austria 

Persons employed (2019) 

Employees (2019) 

Percentage of EU workforce 

Number of companies (2019) 

4,280,200 

3,797,300 

2.2% 

332,755 

1 representative 
trade union 
with voluntary 
membership 

For Austria, the capacity to negotiate cross-industry collective bargaining agreements determines whether organisations are considered representative. Based on this 
approach, there is only one trade union federation with voluntary membership in Austria: ÖGB. 

In addition, there is another cross-industry labour organisation, AK, which is the statutory representative body for almost all employees in Austria (except executive staff 
and most public service employees), with automatic membership. AK is, by law, automatically invested with the capacity to conclude collective agreements. However, ÖGB, 
which – as a voluntary organisation – also possesses this capacity, has priority over the mandatory AK membership and is in practice engaged in collective bargaining, while 
AK is not. (AK would conclude collective agreements only if the voluntary organisation – ÖGB – waived its right to do so.) 

The only cross-industry collective bargaining agreements in Austria took place in the 1950s and 1970s; recently, no such cross-industry collective bargaining has taken place. 
In terms of involvement in the cross-industry social dialogue structures, there is participation of ÖGB (and, on an ad hoc basis, also AK) in the bipartite Advisory Council for 
Economic and Social Affairs.  

Members 

Active members 

Trend 

Sectors 

ÖGB 

AK 

1,216,810 
(voluntary) 

~30% 

Increasing 

All 

All  (automatic  membership  for  all  employees  in 
Austria) 

All 

Considered 
representative at 
cross-industry level? 
Yes 

Collective  bargaining 
capacity if ÖGB waives 
its right 

European affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU 
social partners 

ETUC 
(Eurocadres indirect) 
(CESI indirect)54  

ETUC has as a direct affiliate the only trade union 
confederation at cross-sectoral level. The same 
trade union is an indirect affiliate of Eurocadres 
and CESI.  

54 FCG-fractions of the ÖGB-GPF and ÖGB-GÖD are part of CESI and have a double affiliation: CESI and ETUC. 

67 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2 representative 
employer 
organisations 

Different employer organisations exist, reflecting the size of employers covered and private/public sectors. WKÖ and IV organise employers from the private sector, VÖWG 
organises employers from the public sector and LKA organises employers from the agricultural sector. The difference between WKÖ and IV is that WKÖ has mandatory 
membership for all employers in the private sector; therefore, it has small, medium-sized and large companies affiliated to it. On the other hand, IV has voluntary 
membership and organises mainly larger companies. As only WKÖ and IV have the capacity to negotiate cross-industry collective bargaining agreements, they are the only 
two employer organisations that are considered representative. In the bipartite cross-industry social dialogue in the advisory committee for economic and social affairs, 
WKÖ and IV participate, as does LKA on an ad hoc basis. 

WKÖ (a member of SMEunited) organises a large range of sectoral subunits for most parts of the private economy (except for the liberal professions and agriculture). As a 
mandatory chamber, it is by law invested with the capacity to conclude collective agreements. 

IV (a member of BusinessEurope) is a voluntary association for industrial enterprises and associated sectors. It has also been invested with the capacity to conclude 
collective agreements and would have priority over WKÖ; however, IV has waived its right to do so and so WKÖ is involved in collective bargaining. 

VÖWG (a member of SGI Europe) is a voluntary organisation and organises a variety of segments of the public economy (public companies; services of general interest 
such as education, health services, cultural services and social services; and traditional public utilities such as energy and water, public transport, postal services and 
telecommunication services). It is not involved in collective bargaining. 

WKÖ 

IV 

VÖWG 

Member 
companies 

Workforce of 
member 
companies 

Sectors 

Trend 

663,534 
(mandatory) 
4,500 
(voluntary) 

~66% (100% 
private sector) 
13% 

Almost all 
(private) 
Half 

Increasing 

Increasing 

Considered 
representative at 
cross-industry 
level? 
Yes 

Yes, but waived 
collective 
bargaining rights 
to WKÖ 

280 (with 
subsidiaries) 

20% 

One-third 
(public) 

Increasing  No collective 

bargaining capacity 

European 
affiliation 

SMEunited 
Eurochambres 
BusinessEurope 

SGI Europe 
(BusinessEurope 
and SMEunited 
indirectly)  

LKA 

(mandatory) 

Agriculture 

Only for agriculture 
sector 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU social partners 

The mandatory chamber (WKÖ), a member of SMEunited, organises 
a large range of sectoral subunits for most parts of the private 
economy (with the exception of the liberal professions and 
agriculture). As a mandatory chamber, it is by law invested with the 
capacity to conclude collective agreements. Mandatory means that 
all companies are obliged to be members of WKÖ. 

IV, a member of BusinessEurope, is a voluntary association for 
industrial enterprises and associated sectors. It has also been 
invested with the capacity to conclude collective agreements and 
would have priority over WKÖ; however, IV has waived its right to 
do so, so WKÖ is involved in collective bargaining. 

68 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Belgium 

Persons employed (2019) 

Employees (2019) 

Percentage of EU workforce 

Number of companies (2019) 

4,770,700 

4,123,800 

2.4% 

1,015,782 

3 representative 
cross-industry 
trade union 
organisations 

In Belgium, representativeness comes with participation in the bipartite National Labour Council and the Central Business Council, and participation in the Group of 10, 
which is the cross-industry collective bargaining platform. 

The three representative cross-industry trade unions in Belgium are ABVV-FGTB, ACV-CSC and ACLVB-CGSLB, each with a different ideological background, which is their 
main distinguishing factor. The two largest are ABVV-FGTB, which is socialist, and ACV-CSC, which stems from the Christian labour movement. ACLVB-CGSLB, which is 
much smaller in terms of members, has a liberal ideological orientation. ABVV-FGTB, ACV-CSC and ACLVB-CGSLB are represented in the Nationale Arbeidsraad, the Belgian 
cross-industry social dialogue structure, which is the main national bipartite organ through which they negotiate collective bargaining agreements at cross-industry level 
with the representative cross-industry employer associations. NCK-CNC represents only managerial staff and is considered representative based on a royal decree of 26 
November 1986 for the sectors where it is active. NCK-CNC is not involved in cross-industry social dialogue structures or collective bargaining. Instead, NCK-CNC reports 
informal cooperation with VBO as an employer counterpart at cross-industry level.  

Members 

ABVV-FGTB 

1,535,000 

Active 
members 
1,535,000 

Trend 

Sectors 

Decreasing  All 

Considered representative 
at cross-industry level? 
Yes 

ACV-CSC 

1,489,943 

1,489,943 

Decreasing  All 

ACLVB-CGSLB 

297,645 

297,645 

Increasing 

All 

Yes 

Yes 

NCK-CNC 

10,000 

10,000 

n.a. 

All  

Not as a trade union but as 
an organisation 
representing managerial 
staff 

European affiliation 

ETUC directly 

ETUC directly 

ETUC directly 
Eurocadres 
CEC European 
Managers  

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU social 
partners 
ETUC has as direct affiliates the three largest trade union 
confederations at cross-sectoral level, which cover all types 
of employees in all sectors. Eurocadres has as a direct 
affiliate ACLVB-CGSLB, the third largest trade union, and 
CEC European Managers has as an affiliate the fourth 
largest trade union. 

6 representative 
cross-industry 
employer 
organisations 

VBO-FEB is a large and general employer association with many member organisations across a wide range of sectors. It represents almost all private sector enterprises 
across the entire country. Unizo and UCM mainly target SMEs, with Unizo operating in the Dutch-speaking region and UCM in the French-speaking region. Unisoc and Unipso 
are specifically aimed at the social non-profit sector, Unisoc in the Dutch-speaking region and Unipso in the French-speaking region. Boerenbond is active in the entire 
country but only in the agricultural and horticultural sectors. At national level, all are involved in intersectoral decisions via cross-industry social dialogue and collective 
bargaining structures such as the National Labour Council, the Central Business Council and the Group of 10. 

The Fédération des Chambres de Commerce Belges/Federatie van Belgische Kamers van Koophandel is the umbrella organisation of all accredited chambers of commerce in 
Belgium and Belgian chambers abroad. It unites the interests of the chambers across the entire country and has an accreditation programme in place to ensure the quality of 
all local chambers. 

69 

 
 
 
 
 
Member 
companies 

Workforce of member 
companies 

Trend 

Sectors 

European affiliation 

Assessment  of  the  representativeness  of  the  EU 
social partners 

VBO-FEB 

Unizo 

UCM 

Unisoc 

Unipso 

50,000 

110,000 

45,000 

45 

31 

Boerenbond 

15,729 

75% of the private sector 

Stable 

Almost all 

n.a. 
SMEs in Flanders 
n.a. 
SMEs in Wallonia 
n.a. 
Non-profits in Flanders 
n.a. 
Non-profits in Wallonia 
n.a. (only agriculture) 

Stable 

Increasing 

Stable 

Stable 

All 

All 

Not 
profit 

Stable 

Agriculture 

Yes 

Considered 
representative 
at cross-
industry level? 
Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

BusinessEurope 

SMEunited 

SMEunited 

for 

Yes 

SGI Europe  

Yes 

13 in Belgium, 37 
abroad 

100% 

Fédération des 
Chambres de 
Commerce 
Belges/Federatie 
van Belgische 
Kamers van 
Koophandel 

Stable, 
slight 
increase in 
members 
abroad 

All 

No 

Eurochambres  

BusinessEurope has as an affiliate the most 
important business association/employer 
organisation: VBO-FEB, which covers all types of 
employers in all sectors. SMEunited has as 
affiliates Unizo and UCM, the second and third 
largest business associations/employer 
organisations in the country, respectively. SGI 
Europe has as an affiliate Unisoc. 

The only employer organisation that is involved in 
chambers of commerce is a member of 
Eurochambres. 

70 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Bulgaria 

Persons employed (2019) 

Employees (2019) 

Percentage of EU workforce 

Number of companies (2019) 

3,233,100 

2,883,100 

1.6% 

346,288 

2 representative 
cross-industry 
trade unions 

There are two representative cross-industry trade unions: CITUB and CL Podkrepa. The difference between them is historical: CITUB inherited the old traditional trade unions 
and CL Podkrepa was established in 1989. Both are involved in tripartite cross-industry social dialogue structures. There is no practice of cross-industry collective bargaining 
in Bulgaria. In terms of membership strength, CITUB reports more than twice as many trade union members as CL Podkrepa.  

Members 

Active members 

Trend 

Sectors 

КНСБ (CITUB) 

215,000 

200,000 

КТ ‘Подкрепа’  
(CL Podkrepa) 

87,978 

75,536 

Stable 

Stable 

All 

Three-quarters 

Yes 

Considered representative 
at cross-industry level? 
Yes 

European affiliation  Assessment of the representativeness 

ETUC directly 
Eurocadres  
ETUC directly 
Eurocadres  

of the EU social partners 
ETUC and Eurocadres have as direct 
affiliates both trade union 
confederations at cross-sectoral level, 
which cover all types of employees in 
all sectors. 

5 representative 
cross-industry 
employer 
organisations 

Five  organisations  participate in  tripartite  cross-industry  social dialogue  structures: CEIBG, BCCI, BIA, BICA  and UPEE. Made in  Bulgaria  is  not representative  and  is  not 
considered a cross-industry social partner organisation. It is only included here as it is a member of SMEunited. Cross-industry social partner organisations are representative, 
following a decision of the government.55 

European 
affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU 
social partners based on their national affiliates  

Member 
companies 

КРИБ (CEIBG) 

БТПП (BCCI)  

БСК (BIA) 

12,000 

46,000 

40,000 

АИКБ (BICA)  

10,000 

ССИ (UPEE) 

10,500 

Made  in  Bulgaria 
– Union of SMEs 

402 

Workforce of 
member 
companies 
28% 

22% 

22% 

15.5% 

3.7% 

13.7% 

Trend 

Sectors 

Stable 

Almost all 

Considered 
representative at 
cross-industry level? 
Yes 

Increasing 

More than half 

Yes 

Eurochambres  

Increasing 

Two-thirds 

Increasing 

All 

Increasing 

Two-thirds 

Stable 

n.a. 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

BusinessEurope  

SGI Europe  

SMEunited 

SMEunited 

An assessment of the amount of difference in 
membership strength cannot be made. It is 
difficult to define the most representative 
organisation among the first four, as some have 
fewer members but more employees and 
others have more members but fewer 
employees. At the same time, many sectoral 
employer organisations and companies are 
members of more than one national employer 
organisation, which makes a distinction even 
more difficult. 

71 

55 https://www.mlsp.government.bg/eng/sotsialno-partnorsvo 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Croatia 

Persons employed (2019) 

Employees (2019) 

Percentage of EU workforce 

Number of companies (2019) 

1,649,600 

1,460,000 

0.8% 

149,324 

3 representative 
trade unions 

There are three trade union organisations involved in the tripartite Economic and Social Council. Their representativeness and recognition as cross-industry trade union 
organisations depends on fulfilling five criteria prescribed in a 2015 law, including requiring a minimum of 50,000 trade union members. The three representative cross-
industry trade union organisations are SSSH, NHS and Matica. SSSH covers two-thirds of sectors, NHS covers slightly fewer but still more than half of sectors and Matica 
covers only a few sectors. In terms of membership strength, SSSH and NHS are the largest, both with between 90,000 and 100,000 trade union members, while Matica has 
a membership of around 60,000. 

The trade unions and their members affiliated to SSSH are mostly from the private sector (although there are some from the public sector), while NHS has as affiliates mostly 
trade unions and members from the public and state sectors (although there are some from the private sector). Matica covers trade unions from primary, secondary and 
tertiary education, as well as science and research institutions. Most of Matica’s members are in the education sector,  although it also has members in banking, social 
services and central government administration. 

Nsdmup-a is not a cross-industry trade union, as it does not have 50,000 members.  

Members 

Active 
members 

Trend 

Sectors 

~100,000 

90,000 

Decreasing   Two-thirds 

Considered 
representative 
at cross-
industry level? 
Yes 

96,870 

60,648 

96,870 

60,648 

Decreasing   More than half 

Yes 

Decreasing   A few, mainly in education 

Yes 

European 
affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU social 
partners 

ETUC 

ETUC 

The  two  largest  trade  union  confederations  at  cross-
sectoral level are ETUC direct affiliates; they cover all types 
of  employees 
in  all  sectors.  No  other  European 
organisations  has  a  representative  cross-industry  trade 
union as an affiliate in Croatia. 

SSSH 

NHS 

Matica 

1 cross-industry 
employer 
organisation 

HUP is the only officially recognised cross-industry employer organisation participating in the tripartite Economic and Social Council. HUP is composed of 30 branch 
organisations that cover almost all economic sectors. HUP does not have employers affiliated from the public sector at central or local level, and it has no employers from 
sea fisheries, railways or electricity and gas. The collective workforce of the employers represented by HUP is more than half of the Croatian workforce in the private 
sector. 

HOK and HGK are considered business associations. HOK represents about 7,000 mainly small firms and micro firms, with a collective workforce of about 4% of all private 
sector employees in Croatia. HGK is the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, with a very strong membership in terms of affiliated companies. HGK is not an employer 
organisation, however, as it does not participate in social dialogue or collective bargaining. HGK does not participate in the cross-industry tripartite Economic and Social 
Council. 

72 

 
 
 
 
 
 
There is no link between HOK and HUP because HOK represents the arts and crafts (almost all natural persons), while HUP represents employers in legal entities. 
Membership of HOK is mandatory and therefore it is not deemed representative for collective negotiation. 

HOK represents only SMEs, but it is not the only organisation that represents SMEs in Croatia. HUP also represents SMEs in Croatia, as it represents all sizes of companies. 
HUP has a sectoral association for SMEs called the Small and Medium Si ed Enterprises’ Association.56 

While membership of HUP is voluntary, since 2021 membership of HGK has been mandatory for companies with 50 or more employees and a total revenue of over €2 
million.57 As a consequence, HGK is not deemed representative for collective negotiation. Before the most recent changes in 2021, membership of HGK was mandatory 
for all types of companies.  

HUP 

HOK 

HGK 

Member 
companies 

Workforce of member 
companies 

Trend 

Sectors 

5,000 

Over 50% 

Stable  

7,000 

~4% (in private sector) 

Stable 

138,000 

56% 

Stable 

All (private 
sectors) 
All (private 
sectors) 
All (private 
sectors) 

Considered 
representative at 
cross-industry level? 
Yes 

No 

No 

European 
affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU social 
partners 

BusinessEurope 
SMEunited 
SMEunited 

BusinessEurope represents the most representative 
employer organisation, HUP, which does not cover all types 
of employers in all (private) sectors. 

Eurochambres 

SMEunited represents the largest and second largest 
business associations in the country, covering all types of 
SMEs in all sectors. 

HGK is affiliated with Eurochambres. 

Note: Proportions add up to over 100% because some companies are members of more than one organisation. Many companies are members of both HGK and HUP. 

56 https://www.hup.hr/en/sectoral-associations.aspx 
57 https://www.rrif.hr/clanarina_hgk_u_2022_godini_od_oslobodenja_za_i_sk-2080-vijest/ 

73 

 
 
 
 
 
Cyprus 

Persons employed (2019) 

Employees (2019) 

Percentage of EU workforce 

Number of companies (2019) 

416,478 

359,616 

0.2% 

107,062 

3 representative 
cross-industry 
trade unions 

Full membership of the tripartite cross-industry social dialogue structures and full participation in cross-industry collective bargaining have been given to SEK, PEO and DEOK. 
These  are  the  most  representative  trade  unions  at  cross-industry  level  in  Cyprus.  PASYDY  and  POASO  are  observers  in  the  tripartite  labour  advisory  body  and  do  not 
participate in other tripartite social dialogue structures at cross-industry level. They are representative for some sectors, but not fully representative at cross-industry level. 

There are different cross-industry trade unions for private and public sector employees, and cross-industry trade unions with specific ideological orientations. SEK, PEO 
and DEOK are active in the private sector but also organise in the broader public sector (state-owned enterprises, local administration and other not-for-profit public 
organisations). The membership strength of SEK and PEO is more or less equal. DEOK covers about half of sectors, with a much smaller membership strength. PASYDY 
organises employees only in the public sector, while POASO unites some smaller unions organising employees in public utilities, such as electricity, telecommunications, 
public health and maritime transport.  

Members 

ΣΕΚ (SEK) 

ΠΕΟ (PEO) 

ΔΕΟΚ (DEOK) 

58,761 

58,692 

7,800 

ΠΑΣΥΔΥ (PASYDY) 

21,126 

Active 
members 

58,761 

58,692 

7,800 

13,192 

Trend 

Sectors 

Increasing 

Increasing 

Stable 

Stable 

All 

All 

Half 

A few 

A few 

Considered 
representative at cross-
industry level? 
Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes, as observer 

Yes, as observer 

European 
affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of the 
EU social partners 

ETUC directly 

ETUC directly 

ETUC indirectly 

ETUC members include the largest and third 
largest trade union confederations at cross-
sectoral level, which do not cover all types of 
employees in all sectors. No other cross-
sector European organisations represent 
trade unions in the country. 

ΠΟΑΣΟ (POASO) 

Undisclosed 

Undisclosed 

Increasing 

2 employer 
organisations 

OEB  is  the  traditional  and  historical  cross-industry  employer  organisation  in  Cyprus.  CCCI  is  the  traditional  chambers  organisation  of  Cyprus.  CCCI  has  acquired  employer 
organisation functions in the last 20–25 years. The organisations are similar in terms of membership strength and both participate in cross-industry social dialogue. They have 
overlapping membership, as some companies can be affiliated to both organisations. 

Member 
companies 

Workforce of member 
companies 

Trend 

Sectors 

ΟΕΒ 

8,000 

ΚΕΒΕ (CCCI) 

10,000 

60% of private sector 
employees 
80% 

Increasing 

Increasing 

All 

All  

Considered 
representative at 
cross-industry level? 
Yes 

Yes 

European 
affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU social 
partners 

BusinessEurope   The key employer organisation OEB, which covers all 

SMEunited 
Eurochambres  

types of employers in all sectors, is an affiliate of 
BusinessEurope. CCCI, the key business association in 
the country, is affiliated to SMEunited and 
Eurochambres.  

74 

 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
Czechia 

Persons employed (2019) 

Employees (2019) 

Percentage of EU workforce 

Number of companies (2019) 

5,303,100 

4,412,100 

2.7% 

1,212,831 

2 representative 
cross-industry 
trade unions 

Representativeness is determined through the membership of the tripartite cross-industry social dialogue in the Council of Economic and Social Agreement (RHSD). Two 
trade unions participate in RHSD: ČMKOS and ASO ČR. KUK has not been a member of RHSD since 2000, because it did not meet the representativeness criteria, and was at 
that time replaced by ASO ČR. ČMA is a professional organisation that is not involved in social dialogue and not part of the Czech industrial relations landscape. It is only 
included here because of its membership of CEC European Managers. 

ČMKOS organises employees in all sectors, while ASO ČR covers only about one-third of sectors. KUK only organises employees in live performance and audiovisual sectors, 
but is oriented towards cross-industry social dialogue. The statutes of the vast majority of trade unions allow membership of all employees (including the self-employed), 
regardless of whether they are white- or blue-collar workers, whether they are public or private sector employees or their ideological orientation. The structure of trade 
unions, as well as social dialogue in general, was formed in the 1990s after the break-up of the Revolutionary Labour Movement. The KUK and ČMKOS trade union 
confederations were established as the first peak-level organisations in Czechia, and the ASO ČR confederation was founded in 1995 by the agriculture and nutrition 
workers trade union (OSPZV-ASO ČR), which earlier in the same year had withdrawn from ČMKOS. 

Sectoral 
trade 
unions 
31 

12 

14 

400 

Active 
members 

Trend 

Sectors 

276,730 

Decreasing 

All 

Considered 
representative at 
cross-industry level? 
Yes 

73,200 

Decreasing 

One-third 

Yes 

28,358 

Decreasing 

A few 

n.a. 

Increasing 

n.a. 

Yes 

No  

European 
affiliation 

ETUC 
Eurocadres 
None  

None  

CEC European 
Managers 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU social partners 

ETUC  and  Eurocadres  directly  organise  ČMKOS,  the  trade  union 
confederation  with  the  largest  membership  strength  at  cross-
sectoral level. ČMKOS covers all types of employees in all sectors. 

CEC European Managers represents ČMA, which is recognised 
not as a trade union but rather as a professional association and 
is not a social partner at cross-industry level.  

SP ČR and KZPS ČR are peak-level representative employer organisations, together covering almost all sectors. SP ČR coordinates employers’ voice in tripartite dialogue. HK 
ČR (the Czech Chambers of Commerce) covers mostly small companies and self-employed people; it is a business association covering almost all sectors but it is not 
involved in social dialogue or collective bargaining. It is not considered a representative social partner organisation at cross-industry level. HK ČR is not part of the Czech 
industrial relations landscape, but is included here because of its membership of Eurochambres.  
Trend 
Member 
companies 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU 
social partners 

Workforce of 
member companies 

European 
affiliation 

Sectors 

Considered 
representative at 
cross-industry level? 
Yes 

ČMKOS 

ASO ČR 

KUK 

ČMA 

2 representative 
employer 
organisations 

SP ČR 

34 collective 
members and 163 
companies 

~1,300,000 

Stable 

Almost all 

BusinessEurope  BusinessEurope represents SP ČR, the largest 

employer organisation in terms of membership 

75 

 
 
 
 
 
 
KZPS ČR 

HK ČR 

9 collective 
members with 
22,500 member 
organisations 
16,000 

1,350,000 

Increasing  Almost all 

Yes  

None 

strength. Eurochambres represents HK ČR, which is 
not considered representative at cross-industry level. 

n.a. 

Increasing  All 

No 

Eurochambres 

76 

 
 
 
 
Denmark 

Persons employed (2019) 

Employees (2019) 

Percentage of EU workforce 

Number of companies (2019) 

2,924,122 

2,731,703 

1.5% 

316,970 

5 cross-industry 
trade unions 

In Denmark, representativeness is purely based on mutual recognition, as there are no formal criteria, there is no cross-industry-level collective bargaining and 
participation in cross-industry social dialogue structures is carried out in a variety of ways with different participating organisations. FH, Akademikerne and LH organise in 
the private sector, while Forhandlingsfællesskabet and CFU cover the public sector. Different trade unions focus on different types of workers, sectors and professional 
groups. 

The largest, by far, in terms of membership strength is FH, with over 1.3 million members across the entire workforce (except for the banking and insurance sectors, where 
it has no members). Akademikerne represents the academic community, with some 431,000 members, while LH represents mainly management and executive staff, but 
also a few self-employed workers, with almost 130,000 members. The public sector has two large cross-industry negotiation organisations. Forhandlingsfællesskabet is a 
negotiation body for local and regional government employees. The largest sectors represented by the members of Forhandlingssfællesskabet are hospitals, social care 
and healthcare, childcare, kindergarten and primary school education. It also has members representing emergency services, information and communications 
technology, transport, construction, and regional orchestras and theatres. CFU is a negotiation body for all employees in the state. It represents the central organisations 
of trade unions within central administration, secondary school education, universities, the church, the military and parts of the health, railways and civil aviation sectors.  

Members 

Active members 

Trend 

Sectors 

FH 

1,319,000 

1,319,000 

Decreasing  All 

Akademikerne 

431,000 

431,000 

Increasing 

All 

LH 

127,577 

127,577 

Increasing 

All 

Considered 
representativ
e at cross-
industry level? 
Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Forhandlingsfælle
sskabet  

CFU 

568,604 members 
across 51 
organisations 
175,078 

568,604 

Stable 

111,222 

Stable 

Few 
sector) 

(public 

Yes 

One-third  (public 
sector) 

Yes 

European affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU 
social partners 

ETUC and Eurocadres directly represent the two 
largest trade union confederations at cross-sectoral 
level, which cover all types of employees in all 
sectors. CEC European Managers represents LH. 

ETUC directly 
Eurocadres 
ETUC directly 
Eurocadres  
CEC European 
Managers  
ETUC indirectly 

6 cross-industry 
employer 
organisations 

DA is the main organisation for 11 employer associations in the private sector labour market, covering more than 25,000 companies within industry, retail, transport, the 
service sector, and building and construction, among other sectors. DA covers around one-third of the employers of the Danish workforce and is the counterpart to the 
large trade union confederation FH (see previous table). DI is DA’s largest member organisation and is included separately due to its cross-industry collective bargaining in 

77 

 
 
 
 
 
 
the manufacturing and service sectors. SMVdanmark is a cross-industry organisation, as it does not cover specific sectors but rather covers certain sizes of companies. 
Neither DA nor SMVdanmark negotiates collective agreements. 

In the public sector, there are three organisations that act as employer organisations covering different levels of government: KL represents local government, Danske 
Regioner represents the regional government and MEDST (within the Ministry of Finance) represents the state-level government. They are all involved in collective 
bargaining in different areas of the public sector.  

Member 
companies 

Workforce of 
member 
companies 

25,000 

33% 

Trend 

Sectors 

Around 17%  

Stable 

Stable 

Almost all 

Local 
government 

Yes 

Considered 
representative 
at cross-
industry level? 
Yes 

European affiliation  Assessment of the representativeness of the EU social 

partners 

BusinessEurope  

SGI Europe  

BusinessEurope organises the two largest and most 
important business associations/employer 
organisations, which cover all types of employers in all 
sectors. SMEunited organises SMVdanmark. SGI Europe 
organises MEDST, KL and Danske Regioner, covering the 
public sector.  

DA 

KL 

Danske Regioner 

All 98 
municipalities 
plus a number of 
publicly owned 
corporations and 
60 companies  
5 regions 

Around 4.5%  

Stable 

Few (public) 

Yes 

SGI Europe  

SMVdanmark 

~18,000 

~4% 

Increasing 

One-third 

Yes 

SMEunited 

MEDST 

0 

Around 7% 

Increasing 

Few (public) 

Yes 

SGI Europe 

DI (part of DA) 

19,193 

20% 

Increasing 

Two-thirds 

Yes 

BusinessEurope 

78 

 
 
 
 
 
Estonia 

Persons employed (2019) 

Employees (2019) 

Percentage of EU workforce 

Number of companies (2019) 

671,300 

598,300 

0.3% 

133,784 

1 (most) 
representative 
cross-industry 
trade union 

Representativeness at cross-industry level in Estonia is based on participation in cross-industry social dialogue (regular tripartite meetings with the government and the 
employer confederation ETKL), and negotiating and signing the national minimum wage agreement. On this basis, EAKL is the only (most) representative peak-level trade 
union at cross-industry level in Estonia. 

TALO is a confederation that represents only public sector employees and freelance creatives in the cultural sector and in telecommunications. TALO represents white-collar 
workers, is not party to regular tripartite meetings and is not involved in the national minimum wage negotiations. It takes part in more sector-specific social dialogue (in 
relation to bargaining) with the government (mainly the Ministry of Culture). TALO is involved in some tripartite social dialogue structures at cross-industry level related to 
unemployment insurance, education, qualifications and the International Labour Organization (ILO).  

Members  Active 

Trend 

Sectors 

members 

EAKL 
TALO 

19,200 
3,200 

19,200 
3,200 

Decreasing   Two-thirds 
Stable 

A few 

Considered 
representative at 
cross-industry level?  
Yes 
Yes,  but  only  for  the 
public sector 

European 
affiliation 

ETUC directly 
ETUC directly 
Eurocadres  

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU social partners 

ETUC directly represents both of these trade union confederations at cross-
sectoral level, which cover all types of employees in all sectors. Eurocadres 
represents the second largest trade union confederation, which only organises 
in the public sector and does not participate in cross-industry social dialogue 
or the setting of the minimum wage.  

1 (most) 
representative 
cross-industry 
employer 
organisation 

ETKL is the peak-level employer association representing private sector companies. It is a partner of EAKL (peak-level trade union confederation), and negotiates and signs the 
national minimum wage agreement. EKTK and EVEA are business associations and thus are not involved in collective bargaining. They represent all kinds of private companies 
all over Estonia and their aim is to represent the interests of enterprises to promote economic activities. EKTK organises companies in almost all sectors, while EVEA 
represents SMEs. The members of both associations are individual companies and field-/sector-based associations of companies, in slightly more than half of sectors. ETMK is 
a business association that is not included here because it covers very few sectors and is not considered a cross-industry-level organisation. 

Member 
companies 
1,997 

Workforce of 
member companies 
260,000 

4,998 

5,200 

~160,000 

25,000 

ETKL 

EKTK 

EVEA 

Trend 

Sectors 

Stable 

All  

Increasing  All  

Considered representative at 
cross-industry level? 
Yes, as employer organisations 

European 
affiliation 
BusinessEurope 

As a business association 

Eurochambres  

Increasing  All  

As a business association  

SMEunited 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU 
social partners 
BusinessEurope represents the most important 
business associations/employer organisations, 
which cover all types of employers in all sectors. 
SMEunited represents the second largest 
business association/employer organisation in 
the country. Eurochambres represents EKTK.  

79 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Finland 

Persons employed (2019) 

Employees (2019) 

Percentage of EU workforce 

Number of companies (2019) 

2,566,000 

2,220,000 

1.3% 

361,069 

3 representative 
cross-industry 
trade unions 

There are three representative cross-industry trade union organisations in Finland that are involved in cross-industry social dialogue. Until 2017, they were also involved in 
cross-industry collective bargaining. Since 2017, there have not been any negotiations at cross-industry level. 

In terms of membership strength, SAK is the largest, with members in all sectors. Akava is the second largest, closely followed by STTK. 

These three cross-industry trade union organisations are focused on different categories of workers. SAK-affiliated unions represent mostly blue-collar workers, Akava-
affiliated unions represent employees with high levels of academic education and STTK-affiliated unions represent mostly white-collar workers (clerks, etc.). TVML is not 
considered a cross-sector trade union in Finland; it only represents custom officials in the central government sector. 

Members 

Active members 

Trend 

Sectors 

n.a. 

Stable 

All 

Considered 
representative at 
cross-industry level? 
Yes 

17 members (trade 
unions) and 
approximately 
900,000 employees  

609,000 

500,000 

(part  of 

805 

SAK 

Akava 

STTK 

TVML 
Akava) 

~500,000 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

Decreasing 

One-third 

Two-thirds 

Yes 

Yes 

Only central 
government 
administration 

Only for custom 
officials in the central 
government sector 

European 
affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU 
social partners 

ETUC and Eurocadres directly represent the two 
largest trade union confederations at cross-
sectoral level, which cover all types of employees 
in all sectors. CESI represents TVML, which is not 
considered a cross-industry social partner 
organisation, as it only organises members in one 
sector: central government administration. 

ETUC 

ETUC 
Eurocadres 
ETUC 
Eurocadres 
CESI 

3 representative 
cross-industry 
employer 
organisations 

There are three representative employer organisations involved in cross-industry collective bargaining and social dialogue structures in Finland, namely EK for all private 
sector employers, and KT and VTML for public sector employers. EK is a peak-level employer organisation that (through its member organisations) represents 
employers in the private sector. It has member companies in almost all sectors, except for government administration. In addition, the sectoral trade union for the 
agricultural sector, MTA, is not part of EK, meaning EK also has no members in the agricultural sector. 

KT represents primarily local and regional government employers and, since 2023, the welfare regions. VTML represents state employers in collective bargaining and 
preparations, and concludes collective agreements for civil servants. VTML represents central government administration employers only. In fact, cross-industry 
collective bargaining takes place now only in the public sector. 

80 

 
 
 
 
 
KiT represents the Lutheran Church of Finland as an employer and negotiates a collective agreement for the parishes of the church. SY is a special-interest organisation 
for SMEs that is involved in sectoral collective bargaining – for machine entrepreneurs, for example – but not at cross-industry level. The Finland Chamber of Commerce 
(Keskuskauppakamari) is the central organisation for chambers of commerce in the country. 

Trend 

Sectors 

Workforce  of 
member 
companies 
35% 

n.a. 

Member companies 

24 members 
(employer 
organisations) that 
represent over 15,000 
employers 

416 municipalities and 
joint municipal 
authorities 
217 employer units 

EK 

KT 

VTML 

16% 

Stable 

3% 

n.a. 

KiT (church 
employers) 
SY 

269 congregations 

1% 

n.a. 

110,000 

21% 

Increasing 

Keskuskauppakamari  21,000 

~40% 

Increasing  All 

All except 
local/regional 
government 
and central 
government 
administration 
One-third 

Central 
government 
administration, 
education 
Religious 
organisations 
Two-thirds 

Considered 
representative  at  cross-
industry level? 
Yes 

European 
affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of the 
EU social partners 

BusinessEurope   BusinessEurope represents the largest, most 

important business association/employer 
organisation, which covers all types of 
employers in all sectors. SMEunited 
represents SY, the second largest in the 
private sector. SGI Europe represents the two 
employer organisations/business associations 
covering the public sector. Eurochambres 
represents the Finland Chamber of Commerce 
(Keskuskauppakamari).  

Yes (for local and 
regional government 
employers) 
Yes (for central 
government employers) 

SGI Europe  

SGI Europe (at 
the time of the 
study) 

No  

Yes – but not involved in 
cross-industry collective 
bargaining 
Yes – but not involved in 
cross-industry collective 
bargaining 

SMEunited  

Eurochambres  

81 

 
 
 
 
 
France 

Persons employed (2019) 

Employees (2019) 

Percentage of EU workforce 

Number of companies (2019) 

28,556,000 

25,544,000 

14.5% 

3,853,467 

5 representative 
cross-industry 
trade unions 

Trade union representativeness is defined by law in France and based on workplace election results. In the private sector, five unions are considered representative at 
cross-industry level: CFDT, CGT, CGT-FO, CFE-CGC and CFTC. They are all involved in cross-industry collective bargaining and in tripartite social dialogue structures at cross-
industry level. 

In terms of membership strength, CGT remains the leading trade union organisation in the civil service as a whole (state, local government and hospitals), followed by 
CGT-FO and CFDT. The December 2022 results show that CGT-FO has overtaken CFDT to become the second largest, putting CFDT in third place. 

Considering the results of workplace elections in the private sector, CFDT (31.01% of the votes) has become the leading French trade union in the public and private 
sectors combined. The second largest confederation is CGT (26.59%), followed by CGT-FO (17.64%), CFE-CGC (13.77%) and CFTC (11%). In terms of number of members, 
the leading organisation is CGT, with some 640,000 members,58 followed by CFDT, with 625,000 members,59 and CGT-FO, with some 550,000 members. CGE-CGC has 
around 160,000 members and CFTC has about 140,000 members. 

Other confederations have significant influence and are representative is some branches, but do not yet have representative status at national cross-sectoral level, as their 
results in workplace elections are below the threshold of 8%. This is the case, for instance, for UNSA (with 5.99% of the votes) and for Solidaires (with 3.68% of the votes). 
UNSA and Solidaires take part in workplace elections and are representative in some branches and large companies. In comparison, they obtain more votes in the 
workplace elections (184,000) than FA-FP and FGAF together and are around the same level as FSU (195,000 votes in the public sector). 

Four of the five representative trade unions also have a specific organisation for management staff, which are also included in the following list. These are CFDT Cadres, 
UGICT-CGT, FO Cadres and CFTC Cadres. The fourth representative cross-industry trade union, CFE-CGC, already focuses on representing management employees. CFE-
CGC is representative at cross-industry level, while the others on their own are not. 

The other organisations listed below are SPELC, FA-FP, CSEN, FGAF and FSU, none of which is considered representative at cross-industry level in France. They are listed 
here because of their affiliation to European-level cross-industry social partner organisations, but they cannot be considered cross-industry social partners in the French 
industrial relations landscape. Among these trade union organisations, two cover the education sector (SPELC, teachers in Catholic schools; CSEN, the public education 
sector) and three cover the whole public sector (FA-FP, FGAF and FSU). FSU is mainly involved in central government administration, while FA-FP is a very small 
organisation mainly representing local governments. FGAF, FSU and FA-FP represent the public sector but are not representative at cross-industry level. CESI reports that, 

58 https://www.europe1.fr/politique/reforme-des-retraites-les-syndicats-enregistrent-une-hausse-sensible-des-adhesions-4165420  
59 https://www.cfdt.fr/portail/presse/communiques-de-presse/la-cfdt-compte-610144-adherentes-et-adherents-srv1_1178859  

82 

 
 
 
 
among FGAF, FA-FP and FSU, FA-FP has the most members. SPELC and CSEN are representative only in the education sector and do not appear in the public-sector 
workplace election results.60 

Members  Active 

Trend 

members 

625,525 

586,650 

Increasing 

Considered 
representative at 
cross-industry 
level? 
Yes 

638,967 

541,221 

Decreasing 

Yes 

CFDT 

CGT 

CGT-FO (FO) 

550,000 

450,000 

Stable 

Yes 

CFE-CGC 

160,283 

152,000 

Increasing 

Yes 

CFTC 

140,000 

137,500 

Stable 

Yes 

UNSA 
Solidaires 
CFDT Cadres 

200,000 
110,000 
79,878 

n.a. 
104,000 
77,348 

n.a. 
Increasing 
Increasing 

UGICT-CGT 

FO Cadres 

n.a. 

19 

78,895 

Stable 

n.a. 

n.a. 

CFTC Cadres 
SPELC 
FA-FP 

n.a. 
13,500 
13,500 

n.a. 
11,500 
n.a. 

n.a. 
Increasing 
Increasing 

No 
No 
No 

No 

No 

No 
No 
No 

CSEN 

4,000 

2,500 

Decreasing  No 

Sectors 

European affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU 
social partners 

ETUC directly represents the five largest trade 
unions in France, which cover all sectors and all 
types of employers, and indirectly represents three 
further smaller trade unions. Eurocadres directly 
represents FO Cadres and CFTC Cadres, and 
indirectly represents three more of the largest trade 
unions (CFDT, CGT and CGT-FO (FO)). CEC European 
Managers represents the fourth largest trade union 
in France, CFE-CGC. CESI affiliates three smaller 
trade unions: SPELC, FA-FP and CSEN. Uni Europa 
represents FO Cadres and CFTC Cadres (which are 
also members of Eurocadres). 

All 

All 

All 

All 

All 

Almost all 
All 
All 

All 

Three-quarters 

All 
Education only 
A few (public 
sector) 
Education only 

ETUC (direct) 
Eurocadres (Indirect) 
ETUC (direct) 
Eurocadres (Indirect) 
ETUC (direct) 
Eurocadres (Indirect) 
ETUC (indirect) 
CEC European Managers 
(direct) 
CESI (Indirect)61 
ETUC (direct) 
CESI (indirect) 
EZA 
ETUC (direct) 

ETUC (indirect) 
Eurocadres (direct) 
Uni Europa  
ETUC (indirect) 
Eurocadres (direct) 
ETUC (indirect) 
Eurocadres (direct) 
Uni Europa  
Eurocadres (direct) 
CESI (direct) 
CESI (direct) 

CESI (direct) 

60 https://www.transformation.gouv.fr/files/presse/Communiqu%C3%A9%20de%20presse%20-
%20R%C3%A9sultats%20des%20%C3%A9lections%20professionnelles%20dans%20la%20fonction%20publique%202022.pdf 
61 From the CFE-CGC, the one subgroup of FP CFE-CGC, Avenir Secours (firefighters), is a member of CESI. 

83 

 
 
 
 
FGAF 

1,000 

1,000 

Decreasing  No 

FSU 

160,000 

n.a. 

n.a. 

No 

Healthcare, 
local/regional 
government, 
central 
government 
administration 
Healthcare, 
education, 
local/regional 
government, 
central 
government 
administration 

Eurocadres indirectly 

3 representative 
employer 
organisations at 
cross-industry 
level 

In France, three representative employer organisations are recognised as representative at national and cross-industry level following a process of measuring employers’ 
representativeness based on legislative provisions that has taken place every four years since 2017. They therefore participate in cross-industry collective bargaining and 
cross-industry social dialogue structures. These are MEDEF, CPME and U2P. Due to their representativeness, these three organisations have specific prerogatives in the 
social dialogue at interprofessional level and are systematically consulted by public authorities. For example, Article L1 of the French Labour Code stipulates that: 

any reform project envisaged by the Government concerning individual and collective labour relations, employment and vocational training, and which falls 
within the scope of national and cross-industry negotiations, shall be subject to prior consultation with the representative employee and employer trade 
unions at the national and cross-industry level, with a view to the possible opening of such negotiations. 

UDES (for the social economy), FNSEA (for agriculture) and FESAC (for culture sectors) are representative in social dialogue at multi-professional level but are not involved 
at cross-industry level. They are consulted only on collective bargaining matters, as the negotiations can be translated into law and then concern all the enterprises. 

CMA France, SGI France and CCI France are not involved in cross-industry social dialogue. They are not considered representative cross-industry organisations in France 
but they are included here because of their affiliation to European-level cross-industry organisations. 

Different employer organisations reflect the size of employers covered (for SMEs) and private/not-for-profit sectors. 

MEDEF is a multilayered confederation of sectoral and territorial organisations that brings together companies with more than 10 employees. It seeks to cover all 
companies, whatever their size, in all geographical and professional sectors. The largest companies are affiliated to MEDEF. In 2017, CGPME changed its name to CPME. 
CPME is organised into four national sections: commerce, services, industry and crafts. In 2016, UPA merged with UNAPL to create a new body – U2P. U2P organises 120 
federations or associations of trades and 115 regional or local organisations. There is also an employer organisation representing the not-for-profit sector – UDES, 
formerly USGERES. 

The following organisations are included as members of European social partners, even if they are not considered representative at cross-industry level in France. They 
are marked orange in the table. 

84 

 
 
 
UDES is a cross-sectoral employer organisation that covers 17 branches in the social economy and is not considered representative at national cross-industry level. UDES 
membership is decreasing in terms of active members, but is increasing as a whole if associate member companies are taken into consideration. UDES sits in some 
national cross-industry social dialogue bodies, such as the National Commission for Collective Bargaining. 

UNAPL is affiliated to U2P. It brings together 68 unions and associations representing all liberal professions. In 1997, UNAPL was admitted to the National Commission for 
Collective Bargaining as a representative of employers in the liberal professions, alongside other representative employer and employee trade unions at national level. Its 
representatives sit on the CNAMTS Council, in the CPAMs, AGIRC and ARRCO. 

FNSEA is not a cross-industry organisation. It is representative in various branches of the agricultural sector. However, it has seats on some national cross-industry social 
dialogue bodies, such as in the National Commission for Collective Bargaining. 

CNMCCA represents the mutual and cooperative agricultural companies (Groupama, Mutualité sociale agricole, La Coopération Agricole and Crédit agricole), which are 
important players in the agricultural, agri-food and rural sectors. It therefore covers several branches and is undoubtedly involved in social dialogue at national level, but 
is not a representative organisation at interprofessional level. 

Member 
companies 

Workforce 
of member 
companies 

Trend 

125,929 

9,370,000 

Increasing  

239,810 

3,456,000 

Decreasing 

203,715 

709,852 

Increasing 

32,000 

1,000,000 

Decreasing/increasing 

MEDEF 

CPME 

U2P 

UDES 

CMA France 
SGI France 

CCI France 

1,300,000 
21 

11,000 
n.a. 

3,800,000 

n.a. 

Increasing 
Increasing 

Increasing 

Considered 
representative at 
cross-industry 
level? 
Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No/representative 
at 
multiprofessional 
level 
No 
No 

Almost all 

Almost all 

Almost all 

A few (not for 
profit: 17) 

SMEunited  

SMEunited  

SGI Europe  

Half 
A few 

SMEunited 
SGI Europe  

No 

Two-thirds 

Eurochambres  

Sectors 

European 
affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU 
social partners 

BusinessEurope   BusinessEurope represents the largest employer 

organisation, MEDEF, which covers all types of 
employers in all sectors. SMEunited represents the 
second and third largest employer organisations, 
CPME and U2P. SGI Europe directly represents UDES 
and SGI France. Eurochambres represents CCI France 
(representing the chambers of commerce). No other 
European cross-sector industry associations have 
members in France.  

85 

 
 
 
 
Germany 

Persons employed (2019) 

Employees (2019) 

Proportion of the EU workforce 

Number of companies (2019) 

41,000,000 

38,300,000 

21% 

3,483,691 

3 representative 
trade unions 

DGB and ULA have members in all sectors, while dbb and CGB cover one-quarter of sectors, with dbb mainly covering the public sector. DGB is by far the most 
representative trade union confederation; its eight affiliates represent both public and private sector workers. dbb represents occupational and sectoral trade unions and 
professional organisations, which represent civil servants and workers in privatised companies; CGB differs from DGB ideologically and covers public and private sectors 
alike. These three confederations represent trade unions involved in collective bargaining. Managerial staff may become trade union members and may therefore be 
members of any of the affiliates of these three confederations. Managers are often not covered by collective bargaining because their wages are beyond the maximum 
threshold of remuneration addressed by collective bargaining. Therefore, the German member of CEC European Managers, ULA, is considered not a trade union 
confederation but a professional organisation. 
Members 

Sectors 

Trend 

European 
affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU social 
partners  

Active 
members 

DGB 

dbb 

CGB 

ULA 

6,200,000 

n.a. 

Decreasing 

All 

1,334,860 

n.a.  

Increasing 

One-third 

280,000 

n.a. 

Stable 

70,000 

70,000 

Increasing 

27 

All 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

ETUC 
Eurocadres  
CESI 

CESI 

CEC  European 
Managers 

ETUC represents the largest cross-industry trade union in 
Germany, DGB, which covers all sectors and all types of 
employees. Eurocadres also represents DGB. CESI represents 
the second largest trade union, dbb, and the third largest, 
CGB. CEC European Managers represents the fourth largest 
organisation, ULA. No other cross-industry European 
associations have members in Germany.  

Considered 
representative at 
cross-industry level? 
Yes 

7 employer/ 
business 
organisations 

BDA is the cross-industry umbrella employer organisation. BDA and ZDH, which is a member of BDA and represents craft businesses, are the cross-industry employer 
organisations participating in social dialogue structures at cross-industry level. They have a more or less equal number of affiliated companies (due to overlaps and counting 
variations in their membership structures), while, in terms of the collective workforce, BDA has the largest membership strength. This is because BDA member organisations 
have affiliated employers of all sizes – large firms, SMEs and micro firms – while ZDH represents only craft businesses, which are usually smaller. They include SMEs, micro 
firms and skilled craftsmen, such as carpenters, opticians and hairdressers. 

There are also different employer organisations covering the public and private sectors. VKA, TdL and BVÖD represent public sector employers. VKA unites the regional 
municipal employer associations at national level. TdL is the collective bargaining association for the federal states. While VKA and TdL negotiate collective agreements for 
municipal employers or for the federal states, BVÖD does not. BVÖD – the German section of SGI Europe – organises companies, business organisations and employer 
organisations when they are providers of public services or services of general interest (such as local transport, electricity, water or waste management, and housing). 

86 

 
 
 
 
 
BDA and BDI are both members of BusinessEurope and maintain a joint office in Brussels. However, at national and European levels, BDA and BDI work in different domains. 
While BDA organises employer organisations (involved in collective bargaining), BDI is the umbrella industry association/organisation for industry federations (business 
associations of industry and industry-related service providers) and does not cover the field of collective bargaining. DIHK is the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce 
and is, like BDI, a business association.  
Member 
companies 

Assessment of the representativeness of the 
EU social partners 

European affiliation 

Sectors 

Trend 

BDA 

ZDH 

VKA 

TdL 

BVÖD 

BDI 

DIHK 

Workforce of 
member 
companies 
30,500,000 

1,000,000 

Stable 

Almost all 

~1,000,000 

~5,400,000 

Increasing 

Half 

Considered 
representative at cross-
industry level? 
Yes, as employer 
organisations 
Yes, as employer 
organisations 

~9,900 

~2,500,000 

Increasing 

A few 

Yes (public sector) 

BusinessEurope 

SMEunited 

SGI Europe 
HOSPEEM 

15 

~800,000 

Increasing 

A few 

Yes (public sector) 

SGI Europe  

Over 2,000 

3,000,000 

Stable 

One-quarter 

Yes (public sector) 

SGI Europe  

Over 100,000  

~8,00,000 

n.a. 

Half 

Over 5,500,000 

n.a. 

Increasing 

Two-thirds 

Yes, as business 
associations 
Yes, as business 
associations 

BusinessEurope 

Eurochambres 

BusinessEurope represents BDA (which 
covers all types of employers in all sectors) 
and BDI (which covers half of all sectors). 
SMEunited represents the second largest 
employer organisation, ZDH (organising the 
crafts sector). SGI Europe directly represents 
BVÖD and indirectly represents VKA and TdL 
(representing public sector employers). 
Eurochambres represents DIHK (the 
chambers of commerce). BDA is also 
affiliated to two international employer 
organisations, IOE and Business at OECD. 

87 

 
 
 
 
 
Greece 

Persons employed (2019) 

Employees (2019) 

Percentage of EU workforce 

Number of companies (2019) 

3,901,800 

2,660,700 

2% 

265,212 

1 cross-industry 
trade union with 
the capacity to 
negotiate cross-
industry 
agreements 

GSΕΕ 

ADEDY 

EASE 

6 employer 
organisations 

The Greek trade union system is characterised by a dual structure divided into private and public sector organisations. Workers employed in the private economy (from 
all sectors) can join primary-level trade unions that consist of sectoral/occupational federations and labour centres as part of GSEE. Workers employed under public law 
contracts (e.g. civil servants, teachers and workers of public enterprises) are entitled to join primary-level trade unions that are part of ADEDY, whose membership 
domain focuses on public-service sectors. EASE is a technocratic, non-profit organisation. Its members (professional CEOs and first-line managers) head companies 
covering all sectors of business activities in the country. GSEE is the only trade union confederation that signs the national general collective labour agreement.  

Members  Active members 

Trend 

370,000 

n.a. 

Stable 

Considered representative at 
cross-industry level? 
Yes 

260,000 

n.a. 

Stable  Only for the public sector 

500 

n.a. 

Stable  n.a. 

European affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU social partners 

ETUC 

ETUC 
EPSU 
CEC European Managers 

ETUC directly represents both of the largest trade union 
confederations at cross-sectoral level, which cover all types of 
employees in all sectors. 

CEC European Managers represents EASE, the Greek 
Association of Chief Executive Officers. 

The national general collective labour agreement is co-signed by five employer organisations: SEV, GSEVEE, ESEE, SETE and SBE (formerly SVEE). There are different 
employer organisations/business associations for smaller and larger companies. ESEE represents individuals. SEV (a member of BusinessEurope) originally represented 
the main industrial undertakings and now also represents 5 regional industry associations, 52 sectoral business associations and major business undertakings in all 
sectors such as energy, transportation, processing, the medical industry, the metal industry, food, banking, technology, the chemical industry, services, wholesale, and 
high-tech or innovation start-ups. GSEVEE (a member of SMEunited) has 57 local and 30 sectoral federation members, in which 1,100 first-level associations participate, 
representing micro firms, SMEs, craft businesses and self-employed workers, within the secondary (manufacture) and tertiary (services) sectors of the economy. ESEE 
represents, in particular, SMEs in trade. SETE represents employers in the tourism and hospitality sectors. SBE (a member of SGI Europe) represents associations of 
companies and individual companies and is the employer organisation most newly recognised by law. 

In UHCC, all legal entities and individuals undertaking independent business economic activity are members, as membership is quasi-compulsory because of the business 
registry (GEMH) operated by UHCC. It is included in the study due to its membership of Eurochambres.  

Member 
companies 

Workforce of member companies 

Trend 

ΣΕΒ (SEV) 

4,500 

13%  of  private  sector  employees 
(262,000) 

Increasing 

Considered 
representative 
at cross-industry 
level? 
Yes 

European 
affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU social 
partners 

BusinessEurope 

88 

 
 
 
 
 
 
ΓΣΕΒΕΕ (GSEVEE) 
ΕΣΕΕ (ESEE) 
ΣΕΤΕ (SETE) 

130,000 
~100,000 
50,796 

630,000 
~600,000 
n.a. 

ΣΒΕ (SBE) 

UHCC 

800 

10,500 

850,000 

n.a. 

Stable 
Stable 
n.a. 

Increasing 

Increasing 

Yes 
Yes 
Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

SMEunited  
SMEunited 

SGI Europe  

Eurochambres  

BusinessEurope represents the most important business 
association/employer organisation, SEV, which covers most 
types of private sector employers in all sectors. SMEunited 
represents the second and third largest business 
associations/employer organisations in the country, covering 
all types of SMEs in all sectors. SGI Europe represents SBE. 
Eurochambres has UHCC as an affiliate.  

89 

 
 
 
 
 
Hungary 

Persons employed (2019) 

Employees (2019) 

Percentage of EU workforce 

Number of companies (2019) 

4,436,000 

3,979,800 

2.2% 

824,887 

6 cross-industry 
trade unions 
participate in the 
NGTT 

The National Economic and Social Council (NGTT) and the Permanent Consultative Forum of the Private Sector and the Government (VKF) are two Hungarian social 
dialogue structures. The NGTT cannot be considered a social dialogue body; rather, it is more of a symbolic consultative civil dialogue body without any negotiation 
function. However, the criterion for membership of the NGTT is recognition of the participating trade union organisations as representative at cross-industry level. The 
six cross-industry trade union organisations participating in the NGTT are MASZSZ, LIGA, SZEF, ÉSZT, Munkástanácsok and 7SZ. The VKF is the most important tripartite 
cross-industry social dialogue structure in Hungary. Participation in the VKF is based on mutual recognition, not on thresholds or representativeness criteria. The three 
cross-industry trade union organisations that participate in the VKF are MASZSZ, Munkástanácsok and LIGA. 

MASZSZ is the result of the merger in 2014 of two cross-industry confederations; it is, in terms of membership strength, the most representative trade union, closely 
followed by LIGA. LIGA has members in about one-third of sectors and MASZSZ has members in slightly more than half of sectors. MKKSZ mainly organises public-
service sector employees in local, regional and central government administrations and in healthcare, education and social services. MKKSZ is only representative for 
some of those public sectors, although not as a cross-industry trade union organisation. 

In most cases, the history of the confederations determines their main ideological line. The origin of the division between the confederations (MASZSZ, SZEF and ÉSZT 
on one side and LIGA and Munkástanácsok on the other) can be traced back to the time of the regime change of 1989, battles around the demolition of the state 
monopoly, the breakdown of the National Council of Trade Unions and the distribution of its assets. MASZSZ evolved from the merger of SZOT’s successor, MSZOSZ, and 
a new post-1989 formation, ASZSZ. LIGA and Munkástanácsok were both new formations, close to the political parties first in power after the democratic transition 
(SZDSZ and MDF, respectively). In 2011, MSZ EDDSZ, which organises workers in the public health and social services sector, together with MDSZSZ founded the Seventh 
Confederation (as, by this time, six other confederations were in operation) or 7SZ. 

MASZSZ represents mainly the private sector, but also the public sector; LIGA also represents both private and public sectors, while ÉSZT, SZEF and 7SZ mainly represent 
public sector employees. Regarding the different professional groups, MASZSZ mainly represents blue-collar workers and ÉSZT and SZEF focus on white-collar 
employees. 

Members 

Active 
members 

Trend 

Sectors 

MASZSZ 

LIGA 
Szakszervezetek 
SZEF 

150,000 

100,200 

104,000 

100,200 

Decreasing  Half 

Decreasing 

Two-thirds 

Yes 

51,925 

40,967 

Decreasing  One-

Yes 

quarter 

Considered 
representative at cross-
industry level 
(participating in the 
NGTT)? 
Yes 

European 
affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU social 
partners 

ETUC 

ETUC 

ETUC 

ETUC directly represents the four largest trade union 
confederations at cross-sectoral level, which collectively 
cover all employees in all sectors. Eurocadres also represents 
ÉSZT. 

90 

 
 
 
 
ÉSZT 

54,800 

38,360 

Increasing  One-

Yes 

quarter 

Munkástanácsok 

50,000 

n.a. 

Increasing  One-third 

Yes  

ETUC 
Eurocadres  
ETUC 

Menedzserszövetség represents management employees. It 
used to be a member of CEC European Managers, but is no 
longer affiliated. 

7SZ 

30,000 

Menedzserszövetség  125,000 
MKKSZ 

9,000 

28,000 

125,000 
6,500 

Increasing  One-third 

Increasing  One-third 
Stable 

A few 

Yes 

No 
No 

None  

None  
CESI 

5 employer 
organisations 
and a chamber 
of commerce 
participate in 
the NGTT 

The NGTT and the VKF are social dialogue structures in Hungary. The five cross-industry employer organisations participating in the NGTT are MGYOSZ, VOSZ, ÁFEOSZ, IPOSZ 
and STRATOSZ. The chamber of commerce and industry (MKIK), membership of which is mandatory for all businesses, is also a member of the NGTT. The VKF is the most 
important tripartite cross-industry social dialogue structure in Hungary. Participation in the VKF is based on mutual recognition, not on thresholds or representativeness 
criteria. The three cross-industry employer organisations participating in the VKF are MGYOSZ, VOSZ and ÁFEOSZ. 

MGYOSZ mainly represents larger companies, VOSZ focuses on medium-sized companies, STRATOSZ represents state-run companies and IPOSZ represents craftspeople. 
MKIK is the Hungarian chamber of commerce, which is not an employer organisation, as it is not involved in cross-industry social dialogue structures at cross-industry level. 
ÁFEOSZ, STRATOSZ, KISOSZ and OKISZ have no cross-sectoral presence. ÁFEOSZ is a confederation of companies in commerce, while KISOSZ represents catering and 
commerce, and OKISZ represents small industries. 

Member companies 

100 multinational 
medium-sized and large 
companies, 52 
associations  
170 regional and 
professional guild units, 
30,000 businesses 
21 

58,000 

1,200 

500,000 

MGYOSZ 

IPOSZ 

STRATOSZ 

VOSZ 

ÁFEOSZ 

MKIK 

Workforce of 
member 
companies 
1,200,000 

Trend 

Sectors 

n.a. 

Almost all 

Considered representative 
at cross-industry level 
(participating in the NGTT)? 
Yes 

European 
affiliation 

BusinessEurope 

90,000 

Stable 

Half 

122,000 

Decreasing 

472 000  

Increasing 

35,000 

66% 
2.62 million 

Stable 

Stable 

A few (postal, transport 
and electricity sectors) 
All 

Commerce 

All 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

SMEunited 

None 

None 

An NGTT member but not a 
cross-industry social 
partner 

Eurochambres 

Assessment of the 
representativeness of the EU 
social partners 
BusinessEurope represents the 
most important business 
association/employer 
organisation, MGYOSZ, which 
covers all types of employers in 
all sectors. SMEunited 
represents IPOSZ, representing 
smaller businesses and 
craftspeople. Eurochambres 
represents MKIK, the Hungarian 
chamber of commerce and 
industry. MKIK is not an 
employer organisation but a 
public institution. 

91 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Ireland 

Persons employed (2019) 

Employees (2019) 

Percentage of EU workforce 

Number of companies (2019) 

2,361,200 

2,018,100 

1.2% 

270,344 

1 cross-industry 
trade union 
umbrella 
organisation 

With 44 affiliates, ICTU is the umbrella organisation for almost all trade unions in Ireland (aside from some profession-specific organisations outside ICTU, there are only two 
small trade unions that actively recruit). The two largest member organisations of ICTU are SIPTU, with about 180,000 members, and FORSA, with 80,000 members. Together, 
SIPTU and FORSA represent slightly more than half of the ICTU membership base. SIPTU and FORSA, together with UNITE, are member organisations of ICTU that, like ICTU, 
have members in all economic sectors. Membership of the Labour Employer Economic Forum determines representativeness in Ireland, and only ICTU participates in cross-
industry trade union organisation.  

Members 

Active members 

Trend 

Sectors 

ICTU 

~800,000 

490,000 

Increasing  All 

Considered 
representative 
at cross-
industry level? 
Yes 

European 
affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU social partners 

ETUC 

ETUC  has  as  a  direct  affiliate  the  only  trade  union  confederation  at  cross-
sectoral level, which covers all types of employees in all sectors.  

1 recognised 
representative 
cross-industry 
employer 
organisation 

Ibec occupies a similar status to ICTU in that it is essentially the only cross-industry representative body at peak level. Ibec is the only employer organisation with a cross-
industry membership basis participating in the Labour Employer Economic Forum. Ibec’s members are diverse; direct members range from small to large and domestic to 
multinational and employ over 70% of the private sector workforce in Ireland. Ibec was founded in 1993 by the merger of FIE and CII. Traditionally, FIE dealt with labour 
relations and CII dealt with other matters, including lobbying. There are 39 ‘trade associations’ within Ibec, which cover a wide range of industry sectors. These trade 
associations are staffed by Ibec officials, and employers participate in them via Ibec membership. 

Within Ibec, there is an Ibec small firms’ association, which, just like ISME, represents SMEs. However, ISME is not recognised as a representative cross-industry social 
partner organisation participating in tripartite social dialogue structures at cross-industry level, as only Ibec represents employers. ISME represents SMEs. 

Chambers Ireland is the Irish confederation of local chambers of commerce. It has as affiliates all local chambers, and its membership is very high in Ireland. However, it does 
not play any role in industrial relations, as it is not recognised as a cross-industry social partner organisation. 

Member 
companies 

Workforce of 
member 
companies 

Trend 

Sectors 

Ibec 

ISME 

n.a. 

Over 
10,500 

70% 

n.a. 

Stable 

Stable 

All 

Half 

Considered 
representative at 
cross-industry 
level? 
Yes 

European 
affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU social 
partners 

BusinessEurope   BusinessEurope represents the largest, most important 

No 

SMEunited  

business association/employer organisation, which 

92 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Chambers Ireland 

n.a. 

n.a. 

All 

No 

Eurochambres 

covers all types of employers in all sectors. SMEunited 
represents ISME, the second largest in the private 
sector. Eurochambres represents Chambers Ireland.  

93 

 
 
 
 
 
Italy 

Persons employed (2019) 

Employees (2019) 

Percentage of EU workforce 

Number of companies (2019) 

22,713,000 

17,558,000 

11.5% 

4,404,501 

3 representative 
trade unions 

With the caveat that membership strength statistics are based on self-declarations by trade unions, CGIL declares the most trade union members, followed by CISL and 
then UIL. These main Italian trade unions represent workers in all the economic sectors in Italy and lead cross-industry collective bargaining processes. Their social, 
political and union influence is broader than that of all other trade union organisations, as are their territorial anchoring and their ability to negotiate collective 
agreements at cross-industry level. When they were founded, the three confederal trade unions were aligned with the dominant political forces and ideological traditions 
in Italy: CGIL, Marxist tradition (Italian Communist Party); CISL, Christian-Catholic tradition (Christian Democratic Party); and UIL, socialist and republican tradition (Italian 
Socialist Party and Republican Party). The crisis of mass parties and political ideology has led them to moderate such defining positions, although the original identity 
imprint partly remains. By contrast, other trade unions (mentioned below) have defined themselves as ‘autonomous’ with respect to the political landscape and 
ideological traditions of 20th-century Italy. 

Rules determining which trade unions and employer organisations are representative at cross-industry level in Italy have changed several times through a series of 
agreements negotiated by Confindustria (an employer organisation) and CGIL, CISL and UIL. The most recent negotiated rules (from 2014) on representativeness set a 
threshold of 5% representativeness at cross-industry level to be allowed to negotiate cross-industry collective bargaining agreements. It is calculated as an average 
between members and votes for workplace union representation. Formally, it is not yet implemented. In line with these rules, the three representative cross-industry 
trade unions are indeed CGIL, CISL and UIL. 

For an overview of active trade unions operating in Italy, we can refer to those participating in the most important tripartite social dialogue structure at cross-industry 
level, the National Council for Economic Affairs and Labour (CNEL), which includes, through a special appointment by law, representatives of social forces from the worlds 
of business, self-employment and salaried employment and some organisations of social and voluntary associations. Trade unions participating in CNEL – apart from the 
already mentioned CGIL, CISL and UIL – are the following: 

• 
• 

• 

CIDA and CONFEDIR, both representing managers and cadres 
CIU, representing managers, executives, professionals, researchers, consultants, middle management and high-level professionals, whether employed or self-
employed 
CISAL and CONFSAL, namely cross-industry trade unions also involved in cross-industry collective bargaining (the numbers of sectors covered by CISAL and CONFSAL 
can be found in Table A5 in Annex 4) 

•  UGL, which does not directly participate in cross-industry collective agreements; in the last 20 years, it has signed – through simple ‘adhesion’ (that is, without 

participating in the process of negotiation) – major national collective agreements negotiated between CGIL, CISL, UIL and the most representative employer 
organisations 

USB and USAE must also be mentioned, despite not being represented in CNEL. USB operates in both private and public employment and its activity focuses on conflict 
and labour dispute rather than negotiation and concertation; this is why – despite being organised in a confederal structure articulated at national, regional and provincial 
levels, with a presence in many areas of Italy – it does not participate in cross-industry collective bargaining. USAE is a confederation of autonomous trade unions, not 
representative in terms of membership and territorial coverage and not participating in cross-industry collective bargaining. 

94 

 
 
 
Members 

Active 
members 

Trend 

Sectors 

Considered representative at 
cross-industry level? 

European affiliation 

CGIL 

CISL 

UIL 

CIDA 

CONFEDIR 
CIU 
CISAL 
CONFSAL 

USAE 
USB 
UGL 

5,068,794 

2,588,958 

Decreasing 

4,079,490 

2,379,871 

Increasing 

2,281,355 

1,414,251 

Increasing 

132,985 

89,835 

Decreasing 

All 

All 

All 

All 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No (only in specific sectors) 

ETUC 
Eurocadres  
ETUC 
Eurocadres 
ETUC 
Eurocadres 
CEC European 
Managers  

n.a. 
n.a. 
Over 1,000,000 
~1,400,000 

n.a. 
~250,000 
n.a. 

n.a. 
n.a. 
946,059 
n.a. 

n.a. 
n.a. 
n.a. 

n.a. 
n.a. 
Increasing 
Stable 

n.a. 
Stable 
n.a. 

Public sector 
All 
All 
Three-
quarters  
n.a. 
One-third 
Half 

No (only in specific sectors) 
No 
No (only in specific sectors) 
No (only in specific sectors) 

CESI 
CESI 

No 
No (only in specific sectors) 
No 

Assessment of the 
representativeness of the EU social 
partners 
ETUC and Eurocadres directly 
represent the three largest trade 
union confederations at cross-
sectoral level, which cover all types 
of employees in all sectors. CESI 
represents the two trade union 
confederations, and CEC European 
Managers represents CIDA.  

23+ employer 
organisations 

A large number (23) of employer organisations participate in CNEL. Confindustria is arguably the most representative in terms of membership strength, representing 
the companies employing the largest proportion of the Italian workforce. It represents all kind of companies, although historically it has focused on large 
manufacturing companies. Within its framework operate 87 sectoral employer organisations that together make up the confederal system of Confindustria, 
territorially anchored through associations at regional and provincial levels. 

Confapi (not represented in CNEL) is another employer organisation centred on manufacturing industrial companies, but with a focus on SMEs. Among other employer 
organisations: 

• 
• 
• 

some represent the interests of agricultural companies: Coldiretti, Confagricoltura, CIA and Copagri 
Confcommercio, Confesercenti and FederTerziario mainly represent SMEs operating in the tertiary, services, small industrial and commercial sectors 
Confservizi is the employer organisation representing companies operating in industry-relevant sectors such as water, gas, electricity, environmental hygiene and 
local transport; it currently includes two federations: Asstra and Utitalia 
ARAN represents employers in the public sector, despite not being represented in CNEL 
Legacoop, Confcooperative and AGCI represent the interests of cooperatives 
CNA, Confartigianato and Casartigiani mainly represent the interests of craftspeople and artisans 

• 
• 
• 
•  Unioncamere, despite not being represented in CNEL, is the public body that institutionally represents the Italian chamber system, implementing, managing and 

coordinating services and activities of interest to the Chambers of Commerce 
ABI represents the interest of banks and financial intermediaries 
Confprofessioni represents the interests of freelance professionals 

• 
• 

95 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
• 

Confetra is an employer organisation representing companies in the sectors of transport, shipping, logistics and storage of goods 

All of the above-mentioned employer organisations can be considered representative, in that they are recognised by the three representative trade unions – CGIL, CISL 
and UIL – as counterparts for the negotiation and signature of national collective agreements. 

Member 
companies 

Workforce of 
member 
companies 

Trend 

Sectors 

Confcommercio 

~720,000 

~2,400,000 

Confindustria 

150,379 

5,437,488 

Stable 

Stable 

One-third 

Two-thirds 

Confesercenti 

350,000 

1,100,000 

Decreasing 

A few 

Legacoop 

15,000 

448,490 

Decreasing 

Two-thirds 

Confservizi 

591 

149,426 

Stable 

Confcooperative 

~19,000 

~85,000 

Depends on the sector 

Electricity and gas, 
local public services 
Almost all 

ARAN (public body, 
not represented at 
CNEL) 
CNA 

CONFAPI (not 
represented at CNEL) 
Confartigianato 
Imprese 
AGCI (not 
represented at CNEL) 
FederTerziario 

Unioncamere (public 
body, not 
represented at CNEL) 
Casartigiani 

n.a. 

2,768,129 

Stable 

Public sectors only 

621,362 

~475,000 

Decreasing 

Two-thirds 

~120,000 

~2,300,000 

Stable 

One-third 

665,236 

592,172 

Stable 

Two-thirds  

~8,000 

~90,000 

Stable 

Half 

~90,000 

220,000 

n.a. 

n.a. 

Stable 

Stable 

One-third 

n.a. 

~200,000 

n.a. 

n.a. 

Two-thirds 

Considered 
representative 
at cross-
industry level? 
Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

n.a. 

Yes 

European 
affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness 
of the EU social partners 

BusinessEurope represents the most 
important business 
association/employer organisation, 
which covers all types of employers in 
all sectors. SMEunited represents the 
second and third largest business 
associations/employer organisations in 
the country. SGI Europe represents 
Confservizi and ARAN, and 
Eurochambres represents 
Unioncamere. 

SMEunited62 

BusinessEurope 

SGI Europe 

SGI Europe 

SMEunited 

SMEunited 

Eurochambres 

62 Since 1 January 2023, Confcommercio is no longer a member of SMEunited. 

96 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Latvia 

Persons employed (2019) 

Employees (2019) 

Percentage of EU workforce 

Number of companies (2019) 

870,300 

769,300 

0.4% 

111,448 

1 trade union 

LBAS is the only cross-industry national-level trade union confederation; it unites the largest number of employees via its member organisations. LBAS is a member of the 
National Tripartite Cooperation Council. 

Members 

Active 
members 

Trend 

Sectors 

LBAS 

85,676 

n.a. 

Decreasing  

All 

Considered 
representative at 
cross-industry level? 
Yes 

European affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU 
social partners 

ETUC 
Eurocadres directly 
CESI  indirectly  (via  LBAS 
members)63 

ETUC and Eurocadres directly represent the trade 
union confederation at cross-sectoral level, which 
covers all types of employees in all sectors.  

Only 1 (LDDK) is 
considered 
representative at 
cross-industry level 

LDDK is a single national-level social partner and a member of the National Tripartite Cooperation Council on the employers’ side. LDDK has member companies and 
member organisations. LDDK accepts as direct members companies employing more than 50 people, but via its member organisations also represents smaller 
companies. LBS is registered as an employer organisation with the goal of representing SMEs. Currently, LBS is not a member of the National Tripartite Cooperation 
Council and is not considered a national-level social partner. LTRK is the largest business association in Latvia. The main sectors of its activities are the business 
environment, the competitiveness of enterprises and exports. LTRK is not a member of the National Tripartite Cooperation Council. However, LDDK and LTRK often act 
together in joint opinions or in communication with the government. LBS also cooperates with LTRK to bring SME-related issues onto the legislative agenda. 

Member 
companies 

Workforce of 
member 
companies 

Trend 

Sectors 

~5,000  

44% 

Increasing 

Almost all 

Considered 
representative 
at cross-
industry level? 
Yes 

2,725 directly 

143,891 

Increasing 

1,275 

~4,000  

Decreasing 

All  private 
sectors 
Half 

No 

No  

LDDK 

LTRK 

LBS 

European 
affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU social 
partners 

BusinessEurope 

Eurochambres  

SMEunited 

BusinessEurope represents the only representative cross-
industry employer organisation in Latvia, LDDK, which 
covers all types of employers in all sectors. Eurochambres 
represents the second largest organisation, which is in fact 
a business association. SMEunited represents the third 
largest business association in the country. 

63 The LVIPUFDA and LAADA unions of LBAS are part of CESI and have a double affiliation (CESI–ETUC). 

97 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Lithuania 

Persons employed (2019) 

Employees (2019) 

Percentage of EU workforce 

Number of companies (2019) 

1,324,300 

1,172,300 

0.7% 

105,093 

3 representative 
cross-industry 
trade unions 

The criteria to participate in the Tripartite Council of the Republic of Lithuania (TCRL) determine whether an organisation is representative at cross-industry level. The most 
important criteria are membership of European organisations, having members or representativeness in different geographical regions and in different sectors, being 
active for at least three years and covering at least 0.5% of the total workforce of the country. The three representative cross-industry trade union organisations complying 
with these criteria are LSPK, LPS ‘Solidarumas’ and RJPS. 

LPSK has the most affiliated trade union members with 50,000. The second and third largest trade unions are RJPS and LPS ‘Solidarumas’, with 22,000 and 20,000 
members, respectively. 

There are a few intersectoral unions, but these do not satisfy representativeness criteria and are not represented at the tripartite council (TCRL), for example LPS 
‘Sandrauga’ and LDF. Previously, LPS ‘Sandrauga’ was considered representative and was represented at the TCRL during the last term (from July 2018 to June 2022); 
however, currently it does not satisfy the criteria. LDF was also previously among the largest confederations, but now it is almost inactive and has a relatively small number 
of union members; thus, it is no longer considered representative at cross-industry level. There are more trade unions covering a few sectors that are not representative at 
cross-industry level. One example is G1 Trade Union (Trade Union of 1 May), uniting platform workers, retail trades and others. There also are some sectoral trade unions 
not affiliated to the confederations and/or intersectoral trade unions.  

Members 

Active 
members 

Trend 

Sectors 

LPSK 

50,000 

50,000 

Increasing 

All 

LPS ‘Solidarumas’ 

20,000 

20,000 

Increasing 

All 

RJPS 

22,000 

22,000 

Increasing 

LPS ‘Sandrauga’ 

10,000 

10,000 

n.a. 

LDF 

4,500 

4,500 

Decreasing 

least 

At 
eight 
Trade  union 
does 
not 
provide  this 
information 
A few 

Considered 
representative at cross-
industry level? 
Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

European 
affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU social 
partners 

ETUC and Eurocadres directly represent the largest and third 
largest trade union confederations at cross-sectoral level, 
which cover all types of employees in all sectors. CESI 
represents the second largest trade union confederation. 

LDF is still a member of ETUC, but is no longer a member of 
Eurocadres. 

ETUC 
Eurocadres  
ETUC 
Eurocadres  
CESI 

No 

ETUC 

98 

 
 
 
 
 
 
6 representative 
cross-industry 
employer 
organisations 

On the employers’ side, the criteria to participate in the TCRL determine whether an organisation is representative at cross-industry level. The most important criteria are 
membership of European organisations, having members or representativeness in different geographical regions and in different sectors, being active for at least three 
years and covering at least half of all affiliated companies or at least 3% of the total workforce of the country. 

All six organisations listed below are considered to be representative. There are different employer organisations/business associations for large (LPK) and small businesses 
(LDK). LŽŪR is the employer organisation for the agriculture sector, which also has some members in food and drinks production. LPPARA is an association of chambers of 
commerce, industry and crafts; IF unifies Lithuanian investors; and LVK is a national committee of the International Chamber of Commerce in Lithuania, uniting service, 
trading and high-tech companies. 

Member companies 

Workforce of member 
companies 

Trend 

Sectors 

LPK 

LPPARA 

LDK 

LŽŪR 

IF 

LVK 

~4,000 

2,000 

n.a. 

56 legal entities (companies) 
and 25,000 individual 
employers – farmers 
66 

~3,500 

~300,000 
~23% 
10% 

n.a. 
At least 3% 

~44,000 
~3.5% 

57,820 
~5% 
200,000 
~15% 

Considered 
representative 
at cross-
industry level? 
Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Increasing 

Two-thirds 

Increasing 

Almost all 

n.a. 

LDK does not 
provide any 
information on 
its membership 

Decreasing  Agriculture, 

Yes 

food and drinks 

Increasing 

Half 

Stable 

Two-thirds 

Yes 

Yes 

European 
affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness 
of the EU social partners 

BusinessEurope 

SMEunited 
Eurochambres 

BusinessEurope represents the most 
important business 
association/employer organisation, 
which covers all types of employers in 
all sectors. SMEunited and 
Eurochambres represent the second 
largest business association/employer 
organisation in the country.  

99 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Luxembourg 

Persons employed (2019) 

Employees (2019) 

Percentage of EU workforce 

Number of companies (2019) 

465,000 

437,400 

0.2% 

33,741 

2 trade unions 

There are different cross-industry trade unions for public and private sector employers, and different cross-industry trade unions have different ideological orientations. 

Cross-industry  trade unions are  considered  representative at national level when they  receive  at least 20% of  the  votes in  the  election  of members  for the  Chamber of 
Employees. For Luxembourg, this applies to OGB-L and LCGB. The difference is in their ideological approach. OGB-L has an independent and socialist orientation, while LCGB 
has a Christian democratic orientation. In terms of membership strength, OGB-L is the largest.  

There are two other trade union organisations that are considered representative, although this is based on having 50% of the employee representatives in a given sector. 
For ALEBA, this is the case for the banking and insurance sector, even though the outcome in the last social elections was 49.5%, just below the required 50%. CGFP is a trade 
union with members mainly in the public sector and central government administration, but also in education, postal services and banking. Even though ALEBA and CGFP are 
considered representative for these specific sectors, they cannot be considered here representative trade union organisations at cross-industry level. 

Members 

Active members 

Trend 

Sectors 

OGB-L 

Over 70,000 

65,000 

Increasing   All 

LCGB 

CGFP 

43,502 

39,000 

Increasing  All 

32,000 

Unknown 

Increasing  A few (public 

sectors) 

Considered 
representative 
at cross-
industry level? 
Yes 

Yes 

Yes  

European affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU social 
partners 

ETUC 
Eurocadres 
ETUC 
Eurocadres 
CESI directly 

ETUC and Eurocadres directly represent the two largest 
trade  union  confederations  at  cross-sectoral  level,  both 
of  which  cover  all  employees  in  all  sectors  (OGB-L  and 
LCGB).  CESI  directly represents CGFP, which  is  the  third 
largest trade union confederation. 

ALEBA 

Over 10,000 

9,000 

Increasing  Only  banking  and 

Yes 

None  

insurance  

1 representative 
cross-industry 
umbrella 
organisation of 
employer 
organisations 

UEL  is  the  only  umbrella  organisation  of  Luxembourg  employers,  which,  through  its  membership  of  the  various  employer  organisations  and  professional  chambers, 
represents all companies from the private sector, except those active in the primary sector. UEL has the status of a non-profit association. Due to their representativeness, 
three of the member organisations deserve to be mentioned specifically: FEDIL, FDA and ABBL. FEDIL is the Luxembourg professional association representing the sectors 
of  industry,  entrepreneurship  and  business  services.  FDA  is  the  umbrella  federation  of  Luxembourg  craftsmanship,  grouping  a  variety  of  professional  federations.  FDA 
member companies are members of one of the professional associations in the following trade groups: food, fashion, health and hygiene, mechanics, construction, building 
contractors, building closure, technical building installations, opticians and optometrists, and miscellaneous. ABBL is the association of banks and bankers, representing the 
financial sector, including the majority of financial institutions and regulated financial intermediaries, law firms, consultancies, auditors, market infrastructures, and e-money 
and payment institutions. ABBL represents its banking members in the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements for the banking sector; this equally applies to the 
insurance sector, which is represented at employer level by ACA, which is also a member of UEL. 

100 

 
 
 
 
 
UEL is the umbrella organisation at cross-industry level. Its members FEDIL, FDA and ABBL can conclude collective bargaining agreements at sector level. 

In Luxembourg, there is a system of guild chambers at cross-industry level, with mandatory membership for all private entrepreneurs, craftsmen and companies. CdC, CDM 
and LWK are three chambers that have statutory consultation rights for public authorities (to submit legislative proposals) and, in areas related to statistics or vocational 
training,  they  can  operate  as  associated  public  administrative  bodies.  These  three  organisations  are  indicated  in  orange  below  because  they  are  mandatory  and  not 
organisations based on voluntary membership. 

Member 
companies 

UEL 

All businesses 

FEDIL (part of 
UEL) 
FDA (part of UEL) 

670 

35 

ABBL (part of UEL)  162 

CDM 

CdC 

LWK 

8,463 

96,250 

1,843 

Workforce of 
member 
companies 
Indirectly, 
80% 
n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

20% 

75% 

n.a. 

Trend 

Sectors 

Considered representative at 
cross-industry level? 

European affiliation 

Stable 

Increasing 

All 

All 

Yes, at cross-industry level 

Part of UEL 

BusinessEurope indirectly 
SGI Europe indirectly 
BusinessEurope directly 

Stable 

Stable 

Increasing 

One-third 

Part of UEL 

Banking and 
insurance 
One-third 

No 

Mandatory membership 

SMEunited 

European Banking 
Federation 
SMEunited 

Stable 

All 

Mandatory membership  

Eurochambres 

Decreasing 

Agriculture 

Mandatory membership 

Assessment of the 
representativeness of the EU social 
partners 
BusinessEurope represents one of 
the key business 
associations/employer 
organisations, FEDIL. SMEunited 
represents the second and third 
largest business 
associations/employer organisations 
in terms of numbers, FDA and CDM. 
Eurochambres represents CdC.  

101 

 
 
 
 
 
Malta 

Persons employed (2019) 

Employees (2019) 

Percentage of EU workforce 

Number of companies (2019) 

249,300 

211,800 

0.1% 

31,766 

3 trade unions 

Different trade unions represent a variety of professions. GWU, which is ideologically oriented to the left and traditionally represents more blue-collar workers, also 
represents employees across other categories. GWU has affiliated employees in one-third of sectors. On the other hand, CMTU and Forum are more inclined to represent 
professions such as teachers, doctors, nurses, engineers and technicians. CMTU has affiliated employees from about half of sectors and Forum has affiliated employees in 
about one-third of sectors. All three are involved in the tripartite Employment Relations Board and in the tripartite Malta Council for Economic and Social Development, in 
which they contribute to the shaping of working conditions at cross-industry level. All three cross-industry trade union organisations – GWU, CMTU and Forum – participate 
in the tripartite Malta Council for Economic and Social Development. 

Members 

Active members 

Trend 

Sectors 

53,019 

48,682 

Increasing  

Two-thirds 

Considered 
representative 
at cross-
industry level? 
Yes 

30,019 

26,900 

Increasing 

Half 

Yes 

GWU 

CMTU 

Forum 

16,731 

15,800 

Increasing 

One-third 

Yes 

European affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU social 
partners 

ETUC and Eurocadres directly represent the three 
trade union confederations at cross-sectoral level. CESI 
represents CMTU indirectly.  

ETUC directly 
Eurocadres  
ETUC directly 
Eurocadres 
CESI indirectly  
ETUC directly 
Eurocadres  

3 employer 
organisations 

Different employer organisations reflect the size of employers covered. There are different cross-industry employer organisations/business associations for smaller 
companies and for larger companies. Although these employer associations, in particular MEA and the Malta Chamber, mostly share the same affiliate members, in practice 
they differ in their missions. While MEA is more oriented towards the industrial relations aspect, the Malta Chamber caters for economic and commercial issues, and the 
Malta Chamber of SMEs is focused on commercial interests. The Malta Chamber represents businesses of all sizes, while the Malta Chamber of SMEs deals with issues 
concerning SMEs. All three are involved in the tripartite Employment Relations Board and in the tripartite Malta Council for Economic and Social Development, in which they 
contribute to the shaping of working conditions at cross-industry level. All three cross-industry employer organisations – MEA, the Malta Chamber and the Malta Chamber 
of SMEs – participate in the tripartite Malta Council for Economic and Social Development. 

Member 
companies 

Workforce of 
member 
companies 

Trend 

Sectors 

MEA 

690 

65,000 (31%) 

Increasing  

All 

Considered 
representative 
at cross-
industry level? 
Yes 

European 
affiliation 

SGI Europe  

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU social partners 

102 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Malta Chamber 

n.a. 

197,000 (69%) 

Increasing 

All 

Malta  Chamber 
of SMEs 

7,386 

36,930 

Decreasing  

All 

Yes 

Yes 

BusinessEurope 
Eurochambres  
SMEunited 

MEA has member companies in all sectors. It is known to represent 
mainly the largest employers. It is represented in cross-industry 
European social dialogue as a member of SGI Europe. 

The largest national employer organisation in the collective workforce 
of the affiliated companies is the Malta Chamber. Its member 
companies employ 69% of the Maltese workforce, covering about two-
thirds of sectors. The Malta Chamber is affiliated to both 
BusinessEurope and Eurochambres. Companies can be affiliated to 
both MEA and the Malta Chamber. 

SMEunited represents the largest business association/employer 
organisation in terms of numbers of companies, the Malta Chamber of 
SMEs. It has member companies in all sectors. 

103 

 
 
 
 
Netherlands 

Persons employed (2019) 

Employees (2019) 

Percentage of EU workforce 

Number of companies (2019) 

10,612,000 

8,303,000 

5.4% 

1,899,940 

3 representative 
cross-industry trade 
unions participate 
in the Social and 
Economic Council 

FNV,  CNV  and  VCP  are  all  cross-sectoral,  peak-level  social  partners  with  different  workers  from  different  sectors  and  different  trade  unions  covered  within  each 
organisation. These three peak-level trade unions are part of the Social and Economic Council, where matters of national policy relating to working conditions are discussed, 
together with the peak-level employer organisations VNO-NCW and MKB Nederland. FNV and CNV tend to be present in most sectoral collective labour agreements 
(especially FNV) due to their wide membership bases. In terms of membership strength, FNV is by far the largest. FNV and CNV originally focused more on blue-collar 
workers, while VCP is for more highly educated white-collar workers and management employees. However, all associations appear to want to move away from this 
delineation, because it is no longer so relevant (FNV and CNV have a wide variety of employees as members). VCP, however, is still more orientated towards management 
employees.  

Members 

Active 
members 

Trend 

Sectors 

~1,000,000 

953,947 

Decreasing 

All 

252,126 

n.a. 

Decreasing 

Half 

~50 

163,000 

Increasing 

Half 

Considered 
representative 
at cross-industry 
level? 
Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

~12,000 

~12,000 

n.a. 

Public sector 
(Ministry of 
Finance) 

Not at cross-
industry level 

European affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU social 
partners 

ETUC 
Eurocadres 
ETUC 
Eurocadres 
CESI indirectly64  
ETUC 
Eurocadres 
CESI directly  

ETUC and Eurocadres directly represent the three largest 
trade union confederations at cross-sectoral level, which 
cover all types of employees in all sectors. CESI indirectly 
represents the second largest cross-industry trade union, 
CNV,  as  well  as  the  sectoral  trade  union  NCF,  which 
organises only public sector employees at the Ministry of 
Finance. NCF is representative in the central government 
administration sector, but not at cross-industry level. 

VNO-NCW is, in terms of membership strength, the largest employer organisation. VNO-NCW covers almost all sectors, with the exception of some public sectors. The 
other main employer organisation is MKB Nederland, which represents SMEs (MKB is Dutch for SME) in half of sectors. In terms of affiliated companies, the differences 
between VNO-NCW and MBK Nederland are rather small. However, MBK Nederland only organises SMEs, while VNO-NCW organises all types of companies, including 
larger companies. VNO-NCW and MKB Nederland work very closely together and align their positions as much as possible in policymaking. 

FNV 

CNV 

VCP 

NCF 

2 cross-industry 
employer 
organisations 
participate in the 
Social and 
Economic Council 

64 CNV-Connectief (part of CNV) is part of CESI and has a double affiliation (CESI–ETUC). 

104 

 
 
 
 
 
 
The  SGI  Europe  members  VNG  and  Ministerie  van  BZK  are  public  sector  organisations  that  are  not  representative  at  cross-industry  level.  Just  like  LTO,  the  employer 
organisation for the agricultural sector, VNG and Ministerie van BZK can participate in certain working groups of the Social and Economic Council, but not in the main 
tripartite cross-industry social dialogue of the Social and Economic Council.  

European 
affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of 
the EU social partners 

Member 
companies 

Workforce of member 
companies 

Trend 

Sectors 

VNO-NCW 

~185,000 

~92% 

MKB Nederland 

Over 170,000 

~2.6% 

VNG 

335 

165,800 

Ministerie van BZK 

12 ministries 

139,453 (2021) 

Stable 

n.a. 

Decreasing (due to 
the merger of 
municipalities, not 
affecting 
representativeness) 
Increasing 

Almost all 

Half 

Not for 
profit and 
the public 
sector 

Public 
sector 

Considered 
representative 
at cross-industry 
level? 
Yes 

Yes  

No 

BusinessEurope 
(SME united) 
SMEunited 

SGI Europe  

No 

SGI Europe  

LTO 

36,500 

231,100 (2020) 

Decreasing 

Agriculture 

Yes 

BusinessEurope represents the most 
important business association/employer 
organisation, VNO-NCW, which covers all 
types of employers in all sectors. 
SMEunited represents the second largest 
business association/employer 
organisation in the country, MKB 
Nederland, covering all types of SMEs in 
all sectors. SGI Europe represents VNG 
and Ministerie van BZK. 

105 

 
 
 
 
 
Poland 

Persons employed (2019) 

Employees (2019) 

Percentage of EU workforce 

Number of companies (2019) 

16,094,100 

12,955,600 

8.2% 

2,150,300 

3 trade unions 

The three main trade unions (NSZZ ‘Solidarność’, OPZZ and FZZ) are the representative organisations that meet the conditions to sit on the Social Dialogue Council. These 
criteria are a specific size (at least 300,000 members) and a certain level of diversity (having a significant number of members in an appropriate number of different sectors). 
These organisations differ in structure and have different ideological orientations. 

NSZZ ‘Solidarność’ (Solidarity) is a single unified union. NSZZ ‘Solidarność’ was originally established as the worker-led resistance to the communist government of Poland, 
but currently it cooperates closely with the government and in particular with the political party PiS. NSZZ ‘Solidarność’ is one of the oldest trade unions in Poland. Due to 
its origin, it mobilised workers in the sectors dominated by the state-owned structure or within the industries exposed to privatisation in the 199 s. NSZZ ‘Solidarność’ 
directly  associates  employees  from  different  sectors  and  independently  determines  its  internal  structure,  with  divisions  by  sector  and  region.  NSZZ  ‘Solidarność’  leans 
towards a right-wing ideological orientation and underlines the importance of Catholic values. NSZZ ‘Solidarność’ cooperates with the current PiS government on some 
occasions and issues. However, the relationship is not straightforward, as some NSZZ ‘Solidarność’ members question this cooperation with the government. 

OPZZ and FZZ are confederations (but do not use this word in their names) composed of sectoral trade union federations and company and inter-company trade unions. 
OPZZ is the second largest left-wing trade union in Poland and was formed based on the largest sectoral unions (i.e. teachers’ unions) that existed during the communist 
times and cooperated with the regime. OPZZ is independent from the church and sometimes collaborates with centrist, liberal or leftist politicians. It also supports numerous 
grassroots activist initiatives and sometimes organises common events with feminist or other social movements. OPZZ is vocal and visible in public debate, since it unites 
many public sector employees. 

Finally, FZZ is the youngest organisation of the three, and was created as an apolitical alternative to both NSZZ ‘Solidarność’ and OPZZ. 

It is worth mentioning that two federations are unrepresentative regarding social dialogue but are growing in media visibility and social recognition: Inicjatywa Pracownicza 
(Workers’ Initiative) and Zwią kowa Alternatywa (Union Alternative). Both are strongly left-wing and seek alternative union actions suited to Poland’s laisse -faire-style 
organised labour market. They try to organise unofficial strike events and unionise precarious workers hired on temporary contracts, are actively present in the mainstream 
media and cooperate with grassroots social movements. 

Members 

Active 
members 

Trend 

Sectors 

Considered 
representative 
cross-
at 
industry level? 

European affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU social partners 

NSZZ ‘Solidarność’  522,961 

471,320 

Decreasing  All 

Yes 

ETUC 

Eurocadres 

OPZZ 

350,000 

n.a. 

Decreasing  All 

Yes 

ETUC 

ETUC has as direct affiliates all three trade union confederations at 
cross-sectoral level, which cover all types of employees in all sectors. 
Eurocadres  has  as  affiliates  the  two  largest  trade  unions  in  the 
country. 

106 

 
 
 
 
FZZ 

300,000 

n.a. 

Decreasing  All 

Yes 

ETUC 

Eurocadres 

6 employer 
organisations 

There are different employer organisations/business associations for smaller and larger companies. To be considered representative at cross-industry level, they need to 
have member companies in at least half of all sectors. 

Pracodowcy RP has the greatest representativeness in terms of membership strength, in terms of both affiliated companies and the collective workforce of the affiliated 
companies, covering about one-third of the Polish workforce in all economic sectors. 

ZRP is the Polish Crafts Association and its affiliates, are covering 2% of the Polish workforce. It is also the oldest employer organisation/business association given its 
official history, beginning in the 1930s. Compared with other employer organisations/business associations, it has a strong representation of SMEs. 

Lewiatan organises mainly larger companies in about half of the economic sectors. At the same time, it aims to establish itself as the leading employer representative. Its 
members are very active in the media and are present at legislation consultations, presenting their reports and ideas that contribute to the public debate on the Polish 
labour market. Since 2001, Lewiatan has had an official office in Brussels. 

ZP BCC is a self-labelled elite business association. It unites employers, especially from highly respected, prestigious professions such as the health, finance and law 
sectors, and forms ‘lodges’ instead of sections or sectors. Similarly to Lewiatan, ZP BCC is very media-present and is consulted on legislation regularly. 

ZPP, established in 2010, is one of the youngest employer organisations in Poland and has the ambition to grow in representation. It focuses its activities mainly on 
bureaucracy, state administration and legislation quality issues, as it believes that these are the main obstacles for the employers it represents. 

FPP is one of the youngest employer organisations and, compared with other employer organisations, it represents numerous companies that are state-owned or used to 
be state-owned and were privatised in the 1990s. 

KIG, the Polish Chamber of Commerce, represents the largest number of business associations and chambers. It was established in 1990 and, since then, has regularly 
monitored Polish legislation on the economy, taxes and the labour market and provides representation for Polish business interests. KIG has no representative status, as it 
does not meet the criteria set out in the Act on the Social Dialogue Council and Social Dialogue Institutions. KIG is included here because it is affiliated to Eurochambres. 
KIG and FPP announced in February 2 23 that they would be strengthening their cooperation ‘based on mutual membership’ and, in turn, in April 2023, ZP BCC and FPP 
also signed a similar cooperation agreement ‘based on mutual membership’. 

Member 
companies 

Workforce of 
member companies 

Trend 

Sectors 

European 
affiliation 

Considered 
representative 
at cross-
industry level? 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU social partners 

Pracodawcy RP 

19,000 

5,000,000 

Stable 

All 

Lewiatan 

3,930 

~1,000,000 

Increasing 

Half 

Yes 

Yes 

SGI Europe 

BusinessEurope 

BusinessEurope represents the most important business 
association/employer organisation, which covers all types of 

107 

 
 
 
ZRP 

ZP BCC 

ZPP 

FPP 

50,000 

Over 300,000 

Stable 

n.a. 

51,889 

1,300 

~400,000 
employees 

~577,000 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

Half 

Half 

Half 

Half 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

SMEunited 

Fit for Future 
Platform 

employers in all sectors. SMEunited represents the second 
largest business association/employer organisation in the 
country, covering all types of SMEs in all sectors. SGI Europe 
represents one of the largest employer organisations in the 
country. Eurochambres represents the Polish Chambers of 
Commerce. 

Note: According to the Polish law on the organisation of employers, it is possible to be a member of more than one organisation. Therefore, the numbers include some double counting. 

108 

 
 
 
 
Portugal 

Persons employed (2019) 

Employees (2019) 

Percentage of EU workforce 

Number of companies (2019) 

4,984,600 

3,876,200 

2.5% 

1,278,200 

2 representative 
cross-industry 
trade unions 

In Portugal, the most important indicator for the recognition of the representativeness of trade unions and employer organisations at cross-industry level by the state is 
the access of organisations to the central national body for tripartite negotiations, the Standing Committee of Social Concertation (CPCS). Two trade union organisations 
are members of the CPCS: CGTP-IN and UGT. There is a clear divide in terms of ideology, strategy and practice between these two major trade union confederations. The 
main reasons for the creation of USI as a third confederation are in part ideological (in opposition to the focus on the class struggle of CGTP-IN), but it seems that this 
ideological divide does not exist in relation to the social-liberal UGT. 

USI is a very small organisation and is recognised as social partner only in the autonomous region of Madeira (approximately 250,000 inhabitants, that is, 
2.5% of the national population). USI has the ambition to become a social partner at national level, but CGTP-IN and UGT will not allow USI’s entry to the 
CPCS. Therefore, USI cannot be considered a representative cross-industry social partner organisation.  

CGTP-IN 

UGT 

USI 

2 representative 
cross-industry 
employer 
organisations 

Members 

556,363 

450,000 

25,000 to 30,000 

Active 
members 

Trend 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

Stable 

Increasing 

Yes 

n.a. 

No  

Considered 
representative 
at cross-
industry level? 
Yes 

European affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of 
the EU social partners 

ETUC 
Eurocadres 
ETUC 
Eurocadres 
CEC European Managers 

ETUC  and  Eurocadres  directly  represent 
the two largest trade union confederations 
at  cross-sectoral  level,  which  cover  all 
types  of  employees  in  all  sectors.  CEC 
European Managers represents USI. 

In Portugal, the most important indicator for the recognition of the representativeness of trade unions and employer organisations at cross-industry level by the state is 
the access of organisations to the central national body for tripartite negotiations, the CPCS. Four employer organisations are members of the CPCS: CIP, CCP, CTP and 
CAP. 

CTP organises employers in the tourism sector only and CAP organises employers only in the agriculture sector. Even though they participate in the CPCS at cross-industry 
level, their single-sector membership domain does not allow them to be counted as representative cross-industry social partner organisations. 

The two major employer confederations in the private sector, CIP and CCP, were originally divided by sectors. CIP represented manufacturing and CCP represented the 
wholesale and retail trade. CIP has since extended its domain to all economic activities and CCP has extended its domain to all services. Both confederations organise 
companies of all sizes. CCP’s affiliation to SMEunited highlights that this confederation has a large share of SMEs in its membership base, but CCP also organises large 

109 

 
 
 
 
 
companies.  SGI  Europe  Portugal  is  purely  a  business  association  organising  publicly  owned  companies.  CONFECOOP  is  purely  a  business  association  and  organises 
cooperatives with the broadest domain. In addition, CCIP (the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce) is purely a business association and is part of CIP.  

European affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of the 
EU social partners 

Member companies 

Workforce of member 
companies 

Trend 

Over 150,000 

1,800,000 employees 

Increasing 

Considered 
representative 
at cross-industry 
level? 
Yes 

BusinessEurope  

195,000 

~1,500,000 

Stable 

Yes 

SMEunited 

In the CPCS 

In the CPCS 

CIP 

CCP 

CTP (tourism) 

CAP (agriculture) 

SGI Europe Portugal  17 

CONFECOOP 

180 

CCIP (part of CIP) 

1,126 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

Increasing 

No  

No 

No 

SGI Europe 

Eurochambres  

in  all 

BusinessEurope represents the largest, most 
important  business  association/employer 
organisation,  which  covers  all  types  of 
employers 
SMEunited 
represents  CCP,  the  second  largest  in  the 
private  sector.  SGI  Europe  represents  SGI 
Europe Portugal, covering the public sector. 
Eurochambres  represents  the  Portuguese 
Chamber of Commerce.  

sectors. 

110 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Romania 

Persons employed (2019) 

Employees (2019) 

Percentage of EU workforce 

Number of companies (2019) 

8,492,600 

5,481,100 

4.3% 

744,742 

5 trade unions 
nationally 
representative in 
2022 

The five nationally representative confederations have evolved as a result of historical and leadership reasons. They are not split between the private and public sectors, 
blue- and white-collar workers or ideological orientations.  

Members 

CNSRL Frăția 

304,842 (2020) 

BNS 

259,428  

Active 
members 
304,842 

259,428  

CNS ‘Cartel ALFA’ 

258,099 (2019)  

258,099  

CSDR 
CSN Meridian 

260,000  
254,280 

260,000 
254,280 

Trend 

Stable 

Stable 

Stable 

Stable  
Stable  

Considered representative 
at cross-industry level? 
Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 

European affiliation 

ETUC 

ETUC 
Eurocadres indirectly 
ETUC 

ETUC 
CESI 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU 
social partners 
ETUC has as direct affiliates the three largest trade 
union confederations at cross-sectoral level, CNSRL 
Frăția, BNS and CSDR, which cover all types of 
employees in all sectors. CESI has as an affiliate CSN 
Meridian, which is the fifth largest trade union.  

3 employer 
organisations 
considered 
representative in 
2023  

There are different cross-industry employer organisations/business associations for smaller and larger companies and there are those that represent a mix. In 2023, 
three of the eight employer organisations were representative at national level, representing around 7% of the workforce. Representativeness also grants participation 
in social and civic dialogue structures, including the Economic and Social Council, the National Tripartite Council for Social Dialogue, social dialogue committees with 
ministries, tripartite national bodies and regional social dialogue bodies. At the time of the data collection, in 2020, UGIR was recognised as representative but its 
representativeness was not recognised in 2023 due to decreasing membership. There are also another three employer organisations that are not recognised as 
representative (total workforce of member companies below 300,000): CPR, BusinessRomania and PNR. 

In Romania, there is also a chamber of commerce, not an employer organisation: CCIR. It has its own legal framework, functions on different premises from employer 
organisations, cannot engage in collective bargaining, etc. It is also different from business associations. It has been included in the study as it is a member of 
Eurochambres.  

Member 
companies 

Workforce of member 
companies 

Trend 

CP Concordia  

Over 2,200 

326,445 (2021) 

Increasing 

Considered 
representative at 
cross-industry 
level? 
Yes 

CNIPMMR 

60,000 

372,281 (2020) 

n.a. 

Yes 

European affiliation  Assessment of the representativeness 

of the EU social partners 

BusinessEurope 

SMEunited 

BusinessEurope represents the most important 
business association/employer organisation, CP 

111 

 
 
 
 
 
 
CONIPROM 

21 

324,906 (2019) 

Stable 

CCIR 
BusinessRomania 

Over 1,600 
Over 5,500 

CPR 
UGIR65 

PNR 

n.a. 

1,157 

7% 
Below 300,000 

Below 300,000 

Below 300,000  

262,519 (2018) 

Increasing 
Decreasing 

Decreasing 

Decreasing 

Decreasing 

Yes 

No 
No 

No 

Yes 

No 

None 

Eurochambres 
None 

None 

None 

None  

Concordia, which does not cover all types of 
employers in all sectors. SMEunited represents 
CNIPMMR, one of the largest business 
associations/employer organisations in the country.  

65 At the time of the data collection, in 2020, UGIR was recognised as representative but its representativeness was not recognised in 2023 due to decreasing membership. 

112 

 
 
 
 
 
Slovakia 

Persons working (2021) 

Employees (2021) 

Percentage of EU workforce 

Number of companies  

2,560,600 (LFS data) 

2,177,400 (LFS data) 

1.2% 

405,17766 
Employers: 187,700 
Self-employed: 217,477 

Representativeness relates to membership of the tripartite Economic and Social Council of the Slovak Republic (HSR SR), for which a cross-industry trade union needs to have at least 100,000 
employees. Employer organisations needs to be either multisectoral or to represent employers in at least five (out of eight) regions and to organise members with a total workforce of at least 
100,000. 

2 representative 
peak-level trade 
unions 

There is one representative cross-industry trade union in the HSR SR – KOZ SR – with more than 100,000 members. SOS is also a member of the tripartite social dialogue 
structure based on the amendment of Tripartite Act No. 103/2007, which enabled membership for trade unions with a membership base smaller than 100,000. 

KOZ SR cooperates with NKOS, which is not a tripartite member. 

KOZ SR was established in 1990 through transformation of the previous socialist trade unions and is the largest peak-level trade union confederation in Slovakia. KOZ SR 
covers almost all sectors. SOS was established in 2018 as a new umbrella trade union organisation organising some trade unionists who were leaving KOZ SR, for example 
in the automotive, commerce and healthcare sectors. NKOS was established in 1993 as a national-level trade union ideologically based on the Christian religion. SOS and 
NKOS organise employees in about one-third of sectors. 

Members 

Active 
members 

Trend 

KOZ SR 

SOS 

NKOS  

~243,000 

~26,000–28,000  

4,000 

n.a. 

~26,000–
28,000  
3,000 

Stable 

Stable 

Stable 

Considered 
representative 
at cross-
industry level? 
Yes 

Yes 

No 

European affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of 
the EU social partners 

ETUC 

CESI indirect EUROFEDOP 

ETUC directly represents the largest trade 
union confederation at cross-sectoral level, 
which  covers all  types of employees in  all 
sectors.  

4 representative 
employer 
organisations 

There are four recognised employer organisations in Slovakia that participate in the HSR SR and in social dialogue: AZZZ SR, RUZ, ZMOS and APZD. RUZ represents 
companies and employer organisations and associations from all sectors, AZZZ SR covers about half of all sectors, APZD covers seven sectors and ZMOS organises about 
95% of municipalities nationwide. AZZZ SR was established in 1991 and organised all newly established sectoral employer organisations in Slovakia. In 2004, some 
employers left AZZZ SR and established RUZ. APZD was established in 2015 as a civic association (named APZ) with the aim of representing companies from industry and 

66 Source: Social Policy Institute (2022). 

113 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
construction. In 2021, it was extended into the transportation sector and renamed APZD. ZMOS represents only towns and communities. Initially, ZMOS was not 
considered an employer organisation and participated in the HSR SR on the side of the government representing local and regional administration. 

The Slovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SOPK) is a business association not involved in social dialogue or collective bargaining. Its membership domain covers all 
sectors. SOPK is not part of the Slovak industrial relations landscape; it is only included here as it is a member of Eurochambres. 

Member companies 

Workforce of member 
companies 

Trend 

AZZZ SR 

RUZ 

ZMOS 

APZD 

SOPK 

~11,000 

1,400 

2,784 

~1,500 

n.a. 

~340,000 

251,400 

~142,000 

~180,000 

Stable  

Stable 

Stable 

Increasing 

Considered 
representative 
at cross-industry 
level? 
Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

European 
affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU social 
partners 

BusinessEurope represents the largest business 
association/employer organisation, which covers all 
types of employers in all sectors. Eurochambres 
represents SOPK. 

BusinessEurope  

CEMR, 
CLRAE, UCLG 

CoR, 

Eurochambres  

114 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Slovenia 

Persons employed (2019) 

Employees (2019) 

Percentage of EU workforce 

Number of companies (2019) 

969,700 

843,600 

0.5% 

205,139 

7 representative 
trade unions at 
cross-industry 
level participate 
in the Economic 
and Social Council 
of Slovenia 

There are seven representative trade unions at cross-industry level participating in the Economic and Social Council of Slovenia. Six of them are involved in collective 
bargaining and in bipartite and tripartite cross-industry social dialogue structures: ZSSS, KSJS, KSS Pergam, KS-90, KNSS Neodvisnost and ZRSS. Solidarnost and Alternativa 
are not involved in collective bargaining, but they are involved in other kinds of collective determination of working conditions and in bipartite and tripartite social 
dialogue structures. In terms of membership strength, the largest trade union confederations are ZSSS and KNSS Pergam for both the private and public sectors, and KSJS, 
which covers the public sector only. ZSSS covers all types of workers in all types of sectors. KS-90 organises workers in half of all sectors and KSS Pergam covers almost 
one-third of sectors. KSJS covers the public sector only, while Alternativa covers only the transport sector (and postal sector) and Solidarnost covers only the railway sector 
and central government administration. ZM organises management staff in almost all sectors. ZM is not considered an employer organisation or trade union, but is a 
business association. ZM is not involved in collective bargaining and is not a member of any social dialogue structure. It is included here because of its membership of CEC 
European Managers. KSS is representative in the metal industry and in defence (central government administration). 

Members 

Active 
members 

Trend 

Sectors 

ZSSS 

KSJS 

150,000 

150,000 

Stable 

All 

71,000 

71,000 

Stable 

Few 

KSS Pergam 

20,000 

20,000 

Increasing 

Almost one-third 

KS-90 

36,000 

36,000 

Stable 

Half 

KNSS-Neodvisnost   19,000 

19,000 

Stable 

A few 

ZRSS 

14,000 

14,000 

Stable 

A few 

Solidarnost  

3,100 

3,100 

Stable 

Alternativa 

ZM 

3,100 

1,200 

3,100 

Stable 

Two (rail and central 
government 
administration) 
A few (transport) 

European affiliation  Assessment of the representativeness of the 

EU social partners 

ETUC 
Eurocadres  

ETUC and Eurocadres directly represent 
ZSSS, which is the largest trade union 
confederation at cross-sectoral level and 
covers all types of employees in all sectors. 
CEC European Managers represents ZM.  

Considered 
representative at 
cross-industry level? 
Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Not in the Economic 
and Social Council of 
Slovenia 
Yes 

Yes 

n.a. 

Stable 

Almost all 

Not at cross-industry 
level 

CEC European 
Managers  

115 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4 employer 
organisations 

There are four cross-industry employer organisations in Slovenia that are considered representative. All four are involved in cross-industry collective bargaining and in 
bipartite and tripartite social dialogue structures. 

ZDS was the first voluntary economic association in Slovenia representing and protecting the interests of employers. The largest employer organisation, the Chamber of 
Commerce and Industry of Slovenia (GZS), in 2006 transformed from a compulsory organisation into a voluntary interest organisation. This change caused an immediate 
decline in its membership from 100% to around 55% (2013). Together, ZDS and GZS, with their sections (ZDS) and chambers (GZS), cover all sectors in the economy 
(including the majority of large companies), while OZS and ZDOPS-GIZ cover small business. 

TZS only covers the commerce sector and is not involved in cross-sectoral collective bargaining, but is a member of a tripartite social dialogue structure. 

Member 
companies 

Workforce of 
member companies 

Trend 

Sectors 

Considered 
representative 
at cross-
industry level? 
Yes 

GZS 

ZDS 

OZS 

ZDOPS-GIZ 

TZS 

6,000 

1,400 

20,069 

14,000 

5,900 

45% 

25–30% 

30% 

15–20% 

Increasing 

All 

Increasing 

Two-thirds 

Yes 

Stable 

One-third 

Stable 

One-third 

Yes 

Yes 

Only 
commerce 

European 
affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU 
social partners 

Eurochambres 

BusinessEurope 

SMEunited 

SMEunited 

BusinessEurope represents the second largest 
business association/employer organisation, which 
covers all types of employers in all sectors. 
SMEunited represents the third and fourth largest 
business associations/employer organisations in the 
country. Eurochambres represents the largest 
employer organisation/business association.  

116 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Spain 

Persons employed (2019) 

Employees (2019) 

Percentage of EU workforce 

Number of companies (2019) 

19,779,300 

16,670,500 

10% 

3,068,228 

4 cross-industry 
trade unions 

There are four cross-industry trade union organisations in Spain that organise employees in all sectors and are considered the most representative, based on the number 
of elected workplace representatives. The threshold for representativeness is 10% for the entire country or 15% in the region, with a minimum of 1,500 members. 

CCOO and UGT are the most representative in Spain as a whole, ELA-STV is the most representative in the Basque region and CIG is the most representative in Galicia. Only 
these four are involved in cross-industry collective bargaining and cross-industry social dialogue structures. 

Even though USO, CSIF, FASGA (now called Valorian) and CCP (representing management staff) have members in many economic sectors, they do not have enough 
workplace employee representatives to participate in cross-industry collective bargaining or social dialogue structures. They are indicated in the orange cells in the table 
because they are sufficiently representative for a particular sector or region, but not at cross-industry level. ANPE, SEMAF, SAE and SATSE have members in only one 
sector. ANPE covers the education sector, SEMAF represents train operators in the railway sector, and SAE and SATSE organise employees in the healthcare sector.  

Sectors 

Considered 
representative at cross-
industry level? 

European affiliation 

Members  Active 

Trend 

members 

975,313 

813,662 

Increasing 

Number/proportion of 
elected workplace 
employee 
representatives 
91,494 

941,485 

~800,000 

Stable 

32% 

CCOO 

UGT 

ELA-STV 

101,543 

93,000 

Decreasing 

8,732 (Basque Country) 
1,436 (Navarra) 
4,458 (Galicia) 

75,000 

n.a. 

Increasing 

126,405 

122,630 

Increasing 

11,188 

210,000 

210,000 

Increasing 

10,900 

All 

All 

All 

All 

Almost all 

Almost all 

Yes (cross-industry) 

Yes (cross-industry) 

Yes (cross-industry) 
At regional level 
Yes (cross-industry) 
At regional level 
No (only for certain 
sectors) 
Yes 

18,400 

18,400 

Increasing 

482 

One-third 

No 

41,000 

40,197 

Increasing 

~2,000 

One-third 

Yes 

n.a. 

350 

Increasing 

389 

Education 

Yes 

CESI 

CIG 

USO 

CSIF 

CCP 

FASGA (now 
Valorian) 
ANPE 

ETUC directly 
Eurocadres directly 
ETUC directly 

ETUC directly 

ETUC directly 

CESI  

CEC European 
Managers 
ETUC and Eurocadres 
indirectly 
CESI  

Assessment of the 
representativeness of the EU 
social partners 

ETUC directly represents three 
of the four most 
representative trade union 
confederations at cross-
sectoral level, which cover all 
types of employees in all 
sectors. Among those are the 
two country-wide 
organisations with the largest 
membership strength, CCOO 
and UGT, and one regional 
organisation (ELA-STV). 

CEC European Managers 
represents CCP, which 
organises management staff. 
Eurocadres has CCOO as a 

117 

 
 
 
 
 
SATSE 

SEMAF 

SAE 

125,000 

937,500 

Increasing 

1,800 

Healthcare  No (representative in 

CESI 

50,000 

46,000 

30,000 

27,600 

Decreasing 

Railways 

the health sector) 
Yes, by court decision 

Increasing 

1,000 

Healthcare 

Yes 

CESI 

CESI  

member and also indirectly 
represents UGT and CCP. CESI 
represents six smaller trade 
unions, of which none is 
considered representative at 
cross-industry level. 

4 employer 
organisations (2 are 
considered the most 
representative: CEOE 
and CEPYME) 

Two organisations are considered the most representative, allowing them to participate in cross-industry collective bargaining and social dialogue structures, namely 
CEOE and CEPYME. CEOE has the largest membership strength both in terms of the number of affiliated companies and collective workforce. CEOE represents all kinds of 
employers – large companies, SMEs, micro firms and self-employed workers – in all private sectors. 

To be recognised as the most representative employer organisations, 10% of the companies need to be affiliated, representing 10% of the entire workforce; at regional 
level, recognition can be granted based on 15% of the companies affiliated in a region with 15% of the regional workforce. This is true for PIMEC in Catalonia and for 
PIMEB  in  the  Balearic  Islands,  while  ATA  is  the  most  representative  organisation  for  self-employed  workers,  representing  47.57%  of  self-employed  workers  and  the 
interests of self-employed in social dialogue. 

Both CEPYME and ATA are part of CEOE. CEPYME and PIMEC are considered employer organisations for SMEs, CEPYME for the entirety of Spain and PIMEC only for 
Catalonia. ATA is a business association only for the self-employed and small entrepreneurs. 

In addition, other organisations were included due to their membership of European social partner organisations. The Spanish Chambers of Commerce and the General 
Council of Chambers are public law organisations. They are not social partner organisations in Spain, and therefore they are marked in orange in the following. SGI Europe 
Spain represents employers in the public sector, but also in a number of other sectors. 

Member 
companies 

Workforce of member 
companies 

Trend 

Sectors 

2,000,123 

11,940,000 

Increasing 

All 

Considered 
representative at 
cross-industry 
level? 
Yes 

1,050,000 

6,700,000 

Increasing 

Almost all 

Yes 

550,000 

757,000 (self-employed) 

Increasing 

All 

343,000 (Catalonia) 
8,239 (Balearic Islands)  

Increasing 

98,000 
(Catalonia) 
2,354 
(Balearic 
Islands) 

Half in 
Catalonia 
All sectors 
in Balearic 
Islands  

Yes, but only for 
the self-employed 
Yes in Catalonia 
and the Balearic 
Islands  

SMEunited 

SMEunited 

SMEunited 

CEOE 

CEPYME 

ATA (self-employed 
only) 
PIMEC (regional, 
Catalonia) and PIMEB 
(regional, Balearic 
Islands)67 

67 Both PIMEC (Catalonia) and PIMEB (Balearic Islands) are members of SMEunited via the PIMES Group. 

European 
affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU 
social partners 

BusinessEurope   BusinessEurope 

represents 

largest,  most 
the 
important 
association/employer 
organisation, which  covers all types of  employers in 
all sectors. 

business 

SMEunited  represents  the  second,  third  and  fourth 
largest business associations/employer organisations 
in the private sector. 

118 

 
 
 
 
 
Chambers of 
Commerce Spain 
SGI Europe Spain 

9 

n.a. 

Stable  

One-third 

No 

SGI Europe  

No 

Eurochambres 

SGI Europe represents SGI Europe Spain, covering 
public sector entities, and Eurochambres has as an 
affiliate the Spanish Chambers of Commerce. 

119 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sweden 

Persons employed (2019) 

Employees (2019) 

Percentage of EU workforce 

Number of companies (2019) 

4,938,500 

4,502,200 

2.5% 

1,143,376 

4 cross-industry 
trade unions 

There are cross-industry collective bargaining arrangements regarding insurance, pensions, restructuring, and health and safety at work. There are also various bipartite 
social dialogue structures at cross-industry level. The representativeness of cross-industry social partners, however, depends solely on their traditional role in industrial 
relations, and thus on mutual recognition. 

LO, TCO and SACO are confederations representing trade unions. They organise different parts of the labour force. LO organises blue-collar trade unions, TCO organises 
white-collar trade unions and SACO organises academic trade unions. Together they represent the Swedish labour force. They do not take part in collective bargaining. This 
is done via their member organisations, the trade unions. It is thus not possible to list any of them as ‘the most representative’. In addition to the three confederations, the 
trade union Ledarna organises employees in management positions. Ledarna negotiates collective agreements. It is not a member of one of the above confederations.  

Members 

14 member unions representing mainly blue-
collar workers 
13 member unions representing mainly white-
collar workers 

Active 
members 

Trend 

1,250,000  Decreasing 

Considered 
representative at 
cross-industry level? 
Yes 

1,409,483  Decreasing 

Yes 

21 professional associations representing 
employees with university degrees 
95,431 

700,000 

Decreasing 

Yes 

95,431 

Increasing 

Yes 

LO  

TCO  

SACO 

Ledarna 

European affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of 
the EU social partners 

ETUC directly represents the three largest 
trade union confederations at cross-
sectoral level, which cover all types of 
employees in all sectors. CEC European 
Managers represents Ledarna.  

ETUC 

ETUC 

ETUC 

CEC European 
Managers  

6 cross-industry 
employer 
organisations 

Svenskt Näringsliv brings together some 60,000 companies and 50 industry and employer organisations. Its members organise in a variety of sectors. Svenskt Näringsliv 
is not involved in collective bargaining, but its members are. Trade union members affiliated to LO, TCO and SACO take part in collective bargaining with Svenskt 
Näringsliv’s members. Företagarna represents 60,000 entrepreneurs through 250 local associations. It is not involved in collective bargaining. 

There are the following employer organisations: Svenskt Näringsliv, Arbetsgivarverket, Arbetsgivaralliansen and KFO.SKR (SALAR), with the last representing local 
government in Sweden. All of Sweden’s municipalities (290) and regions (20) are members of SALAR. Arbetsgivarverket represents government agencies. Sobona 
represents public companies (municipality companies). Arbetsgivaralliansen is an independent employer organisation for non-profit and idea-driven organisations. 
Fremia represents Swedish cooperatives and movement-related enterprises, as well as civil society organisations. 

Member companies  Workforce of member 

Trend 

companies 

Considered 
representative at 

European 
affiliation 

Assessment of the representativeness of the EU social 
partners 

120 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Svenskt Näringsliv 

50 

39.7% 

Stable 

Yes 

BusinessEurope  BusinessEurope represents the largest, most important 

cross-industry 
level? 

KFO.SKR (SALAR) 

311 

Arbetsgivaralliansen 
(non-governmental 
organisations) 
Fremia 
(cooperatives) 
Arbetsgivareverket 

Sobona 

Företagarna 
(business owners) 
Sveriges 
Handelskamrar 

3,400 

4,000 

250 

1,100 

60,000 

10,000 

2% 

0.7% 

2.7% 

5.4% 

2% 

9.8% 

n.a. 

Stable 

n.a. 

n.a. 

Stable 

Stable 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Increasing   No 

SGI Europe 

SGI Europe 

SGI Europe 

SMEunited 

Increasing  No 

Eurochambres 

business association/employer organisation, which covers all 
types of employers in all sectors. SMEunited represents the 
business association/employer organisation organising SMEs. 
SGI Europe represents the three main business 
associations/employer organisations in the public sector, 
while Eurochambres represents the Swedish Chamber of 
Commerce. 

The confederation of Swedish enterprises (Svenskt Näringsliv) 
covers very large companies from all sectors, while the 
Swedish federation of business owners (Företagarna) covers 
mainly small business owners from all sectors. In addition, 
Sveriges Handelskamrar has affiliated companies from all 
sectors, but it is a business association and is not involved in 
social dialogue or collective bargaining. 

Sobona, Arbetsgivareverket and SALAR organise employers in 
the public sector, Arbetsgivareverket at central government 
level, SALAR at local and regional government level and 
Sobona at municipal corporation level. Arbeitsgivaralliansen 
organises non-governmental organisations and employers of 
volunteers, while Fremia is the employer organisation for 
cooperatives.  

121 

 
 
 
Annex 2: List of all cross-industry trade unions, EU27  

Country 

Name of the trade union in original language 

Abbreviation of the name 
in original language 

Full name of the trade union in English 

AT 

BE 

BE 

BE 

BE 

BE 

BE 

BG 

BG 

CY 

CY 

CY 

CY 

CY 

CZ 

CZ 

CZ 

CZ 

DE 

DE 

DE 

Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund 

Algemeen Belgisch Vakverbond – Fédération Générale du Travail de 
Belgique 
Algemeen Christelijk Vakverbond – Confédération des syndicats 
chrétiens 
Algemene Centrale der Liberale Vakbonden 

Nationale Confederatie van het Kaderpersoneel – Confédération 
Nationale des Cadres 
Nationale Unie der Openbare Diensten (NUOD), Union Nationale 
des Services Publics (UNSP) 
(ACV-CSC) Centrale nationale des employés 

ÖGB 

ABVV-FGTB 

ACV-CSC 

ACLVB-CGSLB 

NCK-CNC 

Austrian Trade Union Federation 

General Belgian Trade Union 

General Christian Trade Union 

General (Con)federation of Liberal Unions 

National Confederation of Professional and Managerial Staff 

UNSP-NUOD 

National Union for Public Services 

(ACV-CSC) CNE 

National Centre for White-collar Workers 

Конфедерация на независимите синдикати в България 

КНСБ 

Confederation of the Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) 

Конфедерация на труда ‘Подкрепа’ 

Συνομοσπονδία Εργαζομένων Κύπρου 

Παγκύπρια Εργατική Ομοσπονδία 

Παγκύπρια Συντεχνία Δημοσίων Υπαλλήλων 

Δημοκρατική Εργατική Ομοσπονδία Κύπρου 

Παγκύπρια Ομοσπονδία Ανεξάρτητων Συνδικαλιστικών 
Οργανώσεων 
Českomoravská konfederace odborových sva ů 

Asociace samostatných odborů České republiky 

Konfederace umění a kultury 

Česká manažerská asociace 

Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund 

Deutscher Beamtenbund und Tarifunion 

Dachverband der Führungskräfte in Deutschland 

КТ ‘Подкрепа’ 

Confederation of Labour (CL) Podkrepa 

ΣΕΚ 

ΠΕΟ 

ΠΑΣΥΔΥ 

ΔΕΟΚ 

ΠΟΑΣΟ 

ČMKOS 

ASO ČR 

KUK 

ČMA 

DGB 

dbb  

ULA 

Cyprus Workers Confederation (SEK) 

Pancyprian Federation of Labour (PEO) 

Pancyprian Public Employees Trade Union (PASYDY) 

Democratic Labour Federation of Cyprus (DEOK) 

Pancyprian Federation of Independent Trade Union Organisations (POASO) 

Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions 

Association of Independent Trade Unions of the Czech Republic 

Confederation of Arts and Culture  

Czech Management Association 

German Confederation of Trade Unions 

German Civil Servants Union and Wage Union  

United Leaders Association 

122 

 
Country 

Name of the trade union in original language 

Abbreviation of the name 
in original language 

Full name of the trade union in English 

DE 

DK 

DK 

DK 

DK 

DK 

EE 

EE 

EL 

EL 

EL 

ES 

ES 

ES 

ES 

ES 

ES 

ES 

ES 

ES 

ES 

ES 

ES 

FI 

FI 

FI 

Christlicher Gewerkschaftsbund 

Fagbevægelsens Hovedorganisation 

Akademikerne 

Ledernes Hovedorganisation 

Forhandlingsfællesskabet  

Centralorganisationernes Fællesudvalg 

Eesti Ametiühingute Keskliit 

Teenistujate Ametiliitude Keskorganisatsioon 

Γενική Συνομοσπονδία Εργατών Ελλάδος 

Ανώτατη Διοίκηση Ενώσεων Δημοσίων Υπαλλήλων 

Εταιρία Ανωτάτων Στελεχών Επιχειρήσεων 

Confederación Sindical de Comisiones Obreras 

Unión General de Trabajadores de España 

Euskal Langileen Alkartasuna 

Confederación Intersindical Galega 

Unión Sindical Obrera 

Central Sindical Independiente y de Funcionarios 

Confederación de Cuadros y Profesionales 

Sindicato Independiente 

Federación de Asociaciones Sindicales 

Sindicato de Enfermería 

Sindicato Español de Maquinistas y Ayudantes Ferroviarios 

Sindicato de Técnicos de Enfermería 

Tullivirkamiesliitto  

Akava 

STTK 

CGB 

FH 

Christian Trade Unions Confederation 

Danish Trade Union Confederation 

Akademikerne 

Danish Confederation of Professional Associations 

LH 

Organisation of Managerial and Executive Staff in Denmark 

Forhandlingsfællesskabet  

Danish Association of Local Government Employees’ Organisations 

CFU 

EAKL 

TALO 

ΓΣΕΕ 

ΑΔΕΔΥ 

ΕΑΣΕ 

CCOO 

UGT 

Danish Central Federation of State Employees’ Organisations 

Estonian Trade Union Confederation 

Estonian Employees’ Unions’ Confederation 

Greek General Confederation of Labour (GSEE) 

Supreme Administration of Greek Civil Servants’ Trade Unions (ADED ) 

Association of Chief Executive Officers  

Trade Union Confederation of the Workers’ Commissions 

General Union of Workers of Spain 

ELA-STV 

Basque Workers Solidarity 

CIG 

USO 

CSIF 

CCP 

ANPE 

FASGA 

SATSE 

SEMAF 

SAE 

TVML 

Akava 

STTK 

Galician Inter-union Confederation 

Workers’ Trade union  

Independent Trade Union and Civil Servants 

Professionals and Managers Confederation 

Independent Trade Union 

Federation of Trade Union Associations 

Union of Care Workers  

Autonomous Train Drivers’ Union in Spain 

Union of Nursing Technicians 

Finnish Association of Customs Officers 

Confederation of Unions for Professional and Managerial Staff in Finland 

Finnish Confederation of Professionals 

123 

 
Country 

Name of the trade union in original language 

Abbreviation of the name 
in original language 

Full name of the trade union in English 

FI 

FR 

FR 

FR 

FR 

FR 

FR 

FR 

FR 

FR 

FR 

FR 

FR 

FR 

FR 

FR 

FR 

HR 

HR 

HR 

HU 

HU 

HU 

HU 

Suomen Ammattiliittojen Keskusjärjestö 

Confédération Française Démocratique du Travail 

Confédération Générale du Travail 

Confédération générale du travail Force ouvrière 

Confédération française de l’encadrement Confédération Générale 
des cadres 
Confédération Française des Travailleurs Chrétiens 

Union Nationale des Syndicats Autonomes 

Union syndicale Solidaires 

Confédération française démocratique du travail Union confédérale 
des cadres 
Union Générale des ingénieurs cadres techniciens – Confédération 
générale du travail 

Force-Ouvrière Union des cadres et ingénieurs  

CFTC Cadres 

Fédération nationale des syndicats professionnels de 
l’enseignement libre catholique 
Fédération Autonome de la Fonction Publique 

Confédération Syndicale de l’Education Nationale 

Fédération Générale Autonome des Fonctionnaires 

Fédération syndicale unitaire 

Savez samostalnih sindikata Hrvatske 

Nezavisni hrvatski sindikati 

Matica hrvatskih sindikata  

Magyar Szakszervezeti Szövetség 

SAK 

CFDT 

CGT 

CGT-FO (FO) 

CFE-CGC 

CFTC 

UNSA 

Solidaires 

CFDT Cadres 

UGICT-CGT 

FO Cadres 

CFTC Cadres 

SPELC 

FA-FP 

CSEN 

FGAF 

FSU 

SSSH 

NHS 

Matica 

MASZSZ 

Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions 

French Democratic Confederation of Labour 

General Confederation of Labour 

Workers’ Force 

French Confederation of Professional and Managerial Staff – General 
Confederation of Professional and Managerial Staff 
French Confederation of Christian Workers 

National Union of Autonomous Trade Unions 

Solidarity 

CFDT Managers 

General Union for Engineers, Managers and Technicians – General 
Confederation of Labour 

Workers’ Force Union of Managers and Engineers  

CFTC – Managers 

National Federation of Professional Labour Unions of Catholic Education 

Autonomous Federation of the Civil Service 

Trade Union Confederation of National Education 

Autonomous General Federation of Civil Servants 

Unitary Trade Union Federation 

Union of Autonomous Trade Unions of Croatia 

Independent Trade Unions of Croatia 

Association of Croatian Trade Unions 

Hungarian Trade Union Confederation 

Független Szakszervezetek Demokratikus Ligája 

LIGA Szakszervezetek 

Democratic League of Independent Trade Unions 

S aks erve etek Együttműködési Fóruma 

Értelmiségi Szakszervezeti Tömörülés 

SZEF 

ÉSZT 

Forum for the Co-operation of Trade Unions 

Confederation of Unions of Professionals 

124 

 
Country 

Name of the trade union in original language 

Abbreviation of the name 
in original language 

Full name of the trade union in English 

HU 

HU 

IE 

IT 

IT 

IT 

IT 

IT 

IT 

IT 

IT 

IT 

LT 

LT 

LT 

LT 

LT 

LU 

LU 

LU 

LU 

LV 

MT 

MT 

Munkástanácsok Országos Szövetsége 

Munkástanácsok 

National Federation of Workers’ Councils 

Hetedik Szövetség 

Irish Congress of Trade Unions 

Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro 

CIDA – Confederazione Italiana Dirigenti e Alte Professionalità 

Confederazione Italiana Sindacati Lavoratori 

Unione Italiana del Lavoro 

Confederazione Italiana Sindacati Autonomi Lavoratori 

7SZ 

ICTU 

CGIL 

CIDA 

CISL  

UIL 

CISAL 

Seventh Alliance 

Irish Congress of Trade Unions 

Italian General Confederation of Labour 

Italian Confederation of Managers 

Italian Confederation of Workers’ Trade Unions 

Italian Labour Union 

Italian Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions for Workers 

Confederazione Generale dei Sindacati Autonomi dei Lavoratori 

CONFSAL 

General Confederation of Autonomous Unions for Workers  

Confederazione dei sindacati dei funzionari direttivi, dirigenti e delle 
elevate professionalità della funzione pubblica 
Unione Sindacale di Base 

Unione Generale del Lavoro 

Lietuvos profesinių sąjungų konfederacija 

CONFEDIR 

USB 

UGL 

LPSK 

Confederation of the Trade Unions of Directive Officials, Managers and Other 
Professionals in the Public Function 
Unitary Confederation of Grassroots Trade Unions 

General Union of Work 

Lithuanian Trade Union Confederation 

Lietuvos profesinė sąjunga ‘Solidarumas’ 

LPS ‘Solidarumas’ 

Lithuanian Trade Union ‘Solidarumas’ 

Lietuvos profesinė sąjunga ‘Sandrauga’ 

LPS ‘Sandrauga’ 

Lithuanian Trade Union ‘Sandrauga’ 

Lietuvos darbo federacija 

Respublikine jungtine profesine sajunga 

Confédération syndicale indépendante – Luxembourg (Onofhängege 
Gewerkschaftsbond – Lëtzebuerg) 
Confédération luxembourgeoise des syndicats chrétiens 
(Chrëschtleche Gewerkschaftsbond Lëtzebuerg) 
Association luxembourgeoise des employés de banque et 
d’assurance 
Confédération générale de la fonction publique 

Latvijas Brīvo arodbiedrību savienība 

General Workers Union 

Konfederazzjoni tat-Trade Unions Maltin 

LDF 

RJPS 

OGB-L 

LCGB 

ALEBA 

CGFP 

LBAS 

GWU 

CMTU 

Lithuanian Labour Federation 

General Trade Union of the Republic of Lithuania 

Independent Trade Union Confederation – Luxembourg 

Luxembourg Confederation of Christian Trade Unions 

Luxembourg Association of Banking and Insurance Employees 

General Confederation of the Civil Service  

Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia 

General Workers Union 

Confederation of Malta Trade Unions 

125 

 
Country 

Name of the trade union in original language 

Abbreviation of the name 
in original language 

Full name of the trade union in English 

MT 

For.U.M Unions Maltin 

Vakcentrale voor Professionals 

Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging 

Christelijk Nationaal Vakverbond 

Nederlandse Categoriale Vakvereniging Financiën  

Forum 

VCP 

FNV 

CNV 

NCF 

Forum Unions Maltin 

Trade Union Federation for Professionals 

Federation of Dutch Trade Unions 

National Christian Union 

Dutch Categorical Financial Union 

Nie ależny Samor ądny Zwią ek Zawodowy ‘Solidarność’ 

NSZZ ‘Solidarność’ 

Independent and Self-Governing Trade Union ‘Solidarność’ 

Ogólnopolskie Poro umienie Zwią ków Zawodowych 

Forum Zwią ków Zawodowych 

Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores Portugueses – Intersindical 
Nacional  
União Geral de Trabalhadores 

União dos Sindicatos Independentes 

OPZZ 

FZZ 

CGTP-IN 

UGT 

USI 

All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions 

Trade Unions Forum 

General Confederation of Portuguese Workers 

General Union of Workers 

Union of Independent Trade Unions 

Confederația Natională a Sindicatelor Libere din România Frăția 

CNSRL Frăția 

National Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Romania Frăția 

Blocul Național Sindical 

BNS 

National Trade Union Bloc 

Confederația Națională Sindicală ‘Cartel ALFA’ 

CNS ‘Cartel ALFA’ 

National Trade Union Confederation ‘Cartel ALFA’ 

Confederatia Sindicatelor Democratice din Romania 

CSDR 

Confederation of Democratic Trade Unions of Romania 

Confederatia Sindicala Nationala Meridian  

CSN Meridian 

CSN Meridian  

Landsorganisationen 

Sveriges akademikers centralorganisation 

Tjänstemännens centralorganisation  

Ledarna 

Zveza svobodnih sindikatov Slovenije 

Konfederacija sindikatov javnega sektorja Slovenije 

Konfederacija sindikatov Slovenije Pergam 

Konfederacija sindikatov 90 

Zveza delavskih sindikatov Slovenije-Solidarnost 

LO  

SACO 

TCO  

Ledarna 

ZSSS 

KSJS 

KSS Pergam 

KS-90 

Solidarnost  

Swedish Trade Union Confederation  

Swedish Confederation of Professional Associations 

Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees 

Ledarna 

Association of Free Trade Unions of Slovenia  

Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions  

Confederation of Trade Unions of Slovenia Pergam  

Trade Union Confederation 90 of Slovenia  

Union of Workers’ Trade Unions of Slovenia – Solidarity 

126 

NL 

NL 

NL 

NL 

PL 

PL 

PL 

PT 

PT 

PT 

RO 

RO 

RO 

RO 

RO 

SE 

SE 

SE 

SE 

SI 

SI 

SI 

SI 

SI 

 
Country 

Name of the trade union in original language 

Abbreviation of the name 
in original language 

Full name of the trade union in English 

SI 

SI 

SI 

SI 

SK 

SK 

SK 

Slovenska zveza sindikatov Alternativa 

Alternativa 

Slovene Association of Trade Unions Alternativa 

Konfederacija novih sindikatov Slovenije 

KNSS-Neodvisnost  

Independence Confederation of New Trade Unions of Slovenia 

Zveza reprezentativnih sindikatov Slovenije 

Združenje Managerjev Slovenije 

Konfederácia odborových zväzov Slovenskej republiky 

Spoločné odbory Slovenska 

Ne ávislé kresťanské odbory Slovenska 

ZRSS 

ZM 

KOZ SR 

SOS 

NKOS  

Association of Representative Trade Unions Slovenia 

Managers’ Association of Slovenia 

Confederation of Trade Unions of the Slovak Republic 

Joint Trade Unions of Slovakia 

Independent Christian Trade Unions of Slovakia 

127 

 
 
 
 
Annex 3: List of all cross-industry employer organisations/business associations, 
EU27 

Member 
State 

Full name of the employer organisation/business association in original 
language 

Abbreviation of the name in 
original language 

Full name of the employer organisation/business association in English 

AT 

AT  

AT 

BE 

BE 

BE 

BE 

BE 

BE 

BG 

BG 

BG 

BG 

BG 

CY 

CY 

CZ 

CZ 

CZ 

DE 

Wirtschaftskammer Österreich 

Industriellenvereinigung 

WKÖ 

IV 

Federal Economic Chamber Austria 

Federation of Austrian Industries 

Verband der öffentlichen Wirtschaft und Gemeinwirtschaft Österreich 

VÖWG 

Association of Public Services and Enterprises Austria  

Verbond van Belgische Ondernemingen – Fédération des Entreprises de 
Belgique 
Unie van Zelfstandig Ondernemers 

Union des classes moyennes 

VBO-FEB 

Unizo 

UCM 

Association of Belgian Enterprises 

Association of Self-Employed Entrepreneurs 

Association of Middle Classes 

Unie van socialprofitondernemingen/Union des entreprises à profit social  Unisoc 

Association of Social Profit Enterprises 

Boerenbond 

Boerenbond 

Farmers Association 

Fédération des Chambres de Commerce belges 

Конфедерация на работодателите и индустриалците в България 

Българска търговско помишлена палата 

Българска стопанска камара-Съюз на Българския бизнес 

Асоциация на индустриалния капитал в България 

Съюз за стопанска инициатива 

Ομοσπονδία Εργοδοτών & Βιομηχάνων 

Κυπριακό Εμπορικό και Βιομηχανικό Επιμελητήριο 

Sva  průmyslu a dopravy České republiky 

Konfederace  aměstnavatelských a podnikatelských sva ů České 
republiky 
Hospodářská komora 

Bundesvereinigung der deutschen Arbeitgeberverbände 

n.a. 

КРИБ 

БТПП 

БСК 

АИКБ 

UPEE 

ΟΕΒ 

ΚΕΒΕ 

SP ČR 

KZPS 

HK ČR 

BDA 

Federation of Belgian Chambers of Commerce 

Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria (CEIBG) 

Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI)  

Bulgarian Industrial Association-Union of Bulgarian Business (BIA) 

Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA) 

Union for Private Economic Enterprise 

Cyprus Employers and Industrialists Federation 

Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) 

Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic 

Confederation of Employers’ and Entrepreneurs’ Unions of the Czech 
Republic 
Czech Chamber of Commerce  

Confederation of German Employers’ Associations 

128 

 
Member 
State 

Full name of the employer organisation/business association in original 
language 

Abbreviation of the name in 
original language 

Full name of the employer organisation/business association in English 

DE 

DE 

DE 

DE 

DE 

DE 

DK 

DK 

DK 

DK 

DK 

DK 

EE 

EE 

EE 

EL 

EL 

EL 

EL 

EL 

EL 

ES 

ES 

ES 

Zentralverband des deutschen Handwerks 

Vereinigung der kommunalen Arbeitgeberverbände 

Tarifgemeinschaft deutscher Länder 

Bundesverband öffentlicher Dienstleistungen 

Bundesverband der deutschen Industrie 

Deutscher Industrie- und Handelskammertag 

Dansk Arbejdsgiverforening 

Kommunernes Landsforening 

Danske Regioner  

SMVdanmark 

ZDH 

VKA 

TdL 

BVÖD 

BDI 

DIHK 

DA 

KL 

DaRe 

SMVdanmark 

German Confederation of Skilled Crafts 

Association of Municipal Employers’ Associations 

Collective Bargaining Association of German States 

German Section of SGI Europe (BVOED) 

Federation of German Industries 

German Chambers of Industry and Commerce 

Confederation of Danish Employers 

Local Government Denmark 

Danish Regions 

SMEdanmark 

Medarbejder- og Kompetencestyrelsen (under Finansministeriet) 

MEDST 

Dansk Industri 

Eesti Tööandjate Keskliit 

Eesti Kaubandus-Tööstuskoda 

Eesti Väike ja Keskmiste Ettevõtjate Assotsiatsioon 

Σύνδεσμος Επιχειρήσεων & Βιομηχανιών 

DI 

ETKL 

EKTK 

EVEA 

ΣΕΒ 

Γενική Συνομοσπονδία Επαγγελματιών Βιοτεχνών Εμπόρων Ελλάδας 

ΓΣΕΒΕΕ 

Ελληνική Συνομοσπονδία Εμπορίου και Επιχειρηματικότητας 

Σύνδεσμος Ελληνικών Τουριστικών Επιχειρήσεων 

Σύνδεσμος Βιομηχανιών Ελλάδος 

Κεντρική Ένωση Επιμελητηρίων Ελλάδος 

Confederación Española de Organizaciones Empresariales 

Confederación Española de la Pequeña y Mediana Empresa 

Federación Nacional de Asociaciones de Trabajadores Autónomos y 
emprendedores  

ΕΣΕΕ 

ΣΕΤΕ 

ΣΒΕ 

ΚΕΕΕ 

CEOE 

CEPYME 

ATA 

Danish Employee and Competence Authority (under Danish Ministry of 
Finance) 
Confederation of Danish Industry 

Estonian Employers’ Confederation 

Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry 

Estonian Association of SMEs 

Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) 

Hellenic Confederation of Professionals, Craftsmen and Merchants 
(GSEVEE) 
Hellenic Confederation of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (ESEE) 

Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) 

Federation of Industries of Greece (SBE) 

Union of Hellenic Chambers of Commerce 

Confederation of Employers and Industries of Spain 

Confederation of SMEs 

Spanish National Federation of Associations of Self-employed and Small 
Entrepreneurs 

129 

 
Member 
State 

Full name of the employer organisation/business association in original 
language 

Abbreviation of the name in 
original language 

Full name of the employer organisation/business association in English 

ES 

ES 

ES 

ES 

FI 

FI 

FI 

FI 

FI 

FI 

FR 

FR 

FR 

FR 

FR 

FR 

FR 

HR 

HR 

HR 

HU 

HU 

HU 

HU 

HU 

Confederació de la Micro, Petita i Mitjana Empresa de Catalunya 

Confederació de la Petita i Mitjana Empresa de Balears 

PIMEC 

PIMEB 

Confederation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises of Catalonia 

Balearic Confederation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises 

La Cámara de Comercio de España 

Chambers of Commerce Spain  Official Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Services and Shipping of Spain 

Centro Europeo de Empresas Públicas y de Servicios públicos – Sección 
Española 
Elinkeinoelämän keskusliitto 

Kunnallinen työmarkkinalaitos 

Valtion työmarkkinalaitos 

Kirkon työmarkkinalaitos 

Suomen Yrittäjät  

Keskuskauppakamari 

Mouvement des entreprises de France 

Confédération des petites et moyennes entreprises 

Union des entreprises de proximité 

Union des employeurs de l’économie sociale et solidaire 

CMA France 

SGI France 

CCI France 

Hrvatska udruga poslodavaca  

Hrvatska obrtnička komora  

Hrvatska gospodarska komora  

Munkaadók és Gyáriparosok Országos Szövetsége 

Ipartestületek Országos Szövetsége 

Stratégiai és Közszolgáltató Társaságok Országos Szövetsége 

Vállalkozók és Munkáltatók Országos Szövetsége 

Magyar Kereskedelmi és Iparkamara 

SGI Europe Sección Española 

EK 

KT 

VTML 

KiT 

SY 

European Centre of Employers and Enterprises providing Public Services 
and Services of General Interest, Spain 
Confederation of Finnish Industries 

KT Local Government Employers 

State Employer’s Office 

Church Employers 

Finnish Enterprises 

Keskuskauppakamari 

Finland Chamber of Commerce 

MEDEF 

CPME 

U2P 

UDES 

CMA France 

SGI France 

CCI France 

HUP 

HOK 

HGK 

MGYOSZ 

IPOSZ 

STRATOSZ 

VOSZ 

MKIK 

Association of Enterprises in France  

Confederation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises 

Union of Local Businesses 

Union of Social Economy Employers 

French Chambers of Trades and Crafts 

SGI France 

CCI France 

Croatian Employers’ Association (CEA)  

Croatian Chamber of Trade and Craft  

Croatian Chamber of Economy 

Confederation of Hungarian Employers and Industrialists 

Hungarian Association of Craftsmen’s Corporations 

National Association of Strategic and Public Utility Companies 

National Association of Entrepreneurs and Employers 

Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry  

130 

 
Member 
State 

Full name of the employer organisation/business association in original 
language 

Abbreviation of the name in 
original language 

Full name of the employer organisation/business association in English 

IE 

IE 

IE 

IT 

IT 

IT 

IT 

IT 

IT 

IT 

IT 

IT 

IT 

IT 

IT 

IT 

IT 

LT 

LT 

LT 

LT 

LT 

LT 

LU 

Irish Business and Employers Confederation 

Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association 

Ibec 

ISME 

Irish Business and Employers Confederation 

Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association 

Chambers Ireland 

Chambers Ireland 

Chambers Ireland 

Confederazione Generale Italiana delle Imprese, delle Attività 
Professionali e del Lavoro Autonomo 
Confedera ione Generale dell’Industria Italiana 

Confcommercio-Imprese per 
l’Italia 
Confindustria 

Confcommercio – Enterprises for Italy 

General Confederation of Italian Industry 

Confederazione Italiana Esercenti Attività Commerciali, Turistiche e dei 
Servizi 
Lega Nazionale delle Cooperative e delle Mutue 

Confesercenti 

Italian Confederation of Commercial, Touristic and Services Enterprises 

Legacoop 

National Association of Cooperatives and Mutual Aid Enterprises 

Confservizi – Confederazione dei Servizi Pubblici Locali – Asstra, Utilitalia  Confservizi 

Local Public Services Confederation – Asstra, Utilitalia 

Confederazione Cooperative Italiane 

Confcooperative 

Confederation of Italian Cooperatives 

Agenzia per la rappresentanza negoziale delle pubbliche amministrazioni   ARAN 

National Negotiating Agency for the Public Administrations 

Confederazione Autonoma Sindacati Artigiani 

Casartigiani 

Autonomous Confederation of Craftsmen’s Unions 

Confedera ione na ionale dell’artigianato e della piccola e media impresa  CNA 

National Confederation of Crafts and Small and Medium Enterprises 

Confederazione Italiana della Piccola e Media Industria 

CONFAPI 

Italian Confederation of Small and Medium-sized Industry 

Confedera ione Generale Italiana dell’Artigianato 

Confartigianato 

General Italian Confederation for Artisans 

Associazione Generale Cooperative Italiane 

Confederazione Italiana del Terziario, dei Servizi, del Lavoro autonomo, 
della Piccola Impresa Industriale, Commerciale e Artigiana 
Unioncamere 

AGCI 

FederTerziario 

Unioncamere 

Lietuvos pramoninkų konfederacija 

Lietuvos prekybos, pramonės ir amatų rūmų asociacija 

Lietuvos darbdavių konfederacija 

Lietuvos žemės ūkio rūmų asociacija 

Asociacija ‘Investuotojų forumas’ 

Lietuvos verslo konfederacija 

Union des entreprises luxembourgeoises 

LPK 

LPPARA 

LDK 

LŽŪR 

IF 

LVK 

UEL 

General Association of Italian Cooperative Enterprises 

Italian Confederation of Tertiary, Services, Autonomous Work, Small 
Industrial, Commercial and Artisan Enterprises 
Unioncamere 

Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists 

Association of Lithuanian Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Crafts 

Lithuanian Employers’ Confederation 

Chamber of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania 

Association ‘Investors’ Forum’ 

Lithuanian Business Confederation 

Union of Luxembourg Companies 

131 

 
Member 
State 

Full name of the employer organisation/business association in original 
language 

Abbreviation of the name in 
original language 

Full name of the employer organisation/business association in English 

LU 

LU 

LU 

LU 

LV 

LV 

LV 

MT 

MT 

MT 

NL 

NL 

NL 

NL 

PL 

PL 

PL 

PL 

PL 

PL 

PL 

PT 

PT 

PT 

PT 

The Voice of Luxembourg’s Industry 

Fédération des Artisans 

Chambre des métiers du Luxembourg 

La Chambre de Commerce 

Latvijas Darba devēju konfederācija 

Latvijas Tird niecības un rūpniecības kamera 

Latvijas Bi nesa savienība 

Malta Employers Association 

FEDIL 

FDA 

CDM 

CdC 

LDDK 

LTRK 

LBS 

MEA 

The Voice of Luxembourg’s Industry 

Federation of Craftsmen 

Chamber of Skilled Crafts and Trades 

Chamber of Commerce Luxembourg 

Latvian Employers Confederation 

Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry 

Business Union of Latvia 

Malta Employers Association 

Il-Kamra tal-Kummerċ, l-Intrapriża u l-Industrija 

Malta Chamber 

Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry 

Kamra tal-Intrapriżi Żgħar u Medji 

Malta Chamber of SMEs 

Malta Chamber of SMEs 

Verbond Nederlandse Ondernemingen Nederlands Christelijk 
Werkgeversverbond 
Vereniging Nederlandse Gemeenten 

VNO-NCW 

VNG 

Association of Dutch Enterprises and Dutch Christian Association of 
Employers 
Association of Dutch Municipalities 

Ministerie Buitenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties 

Ministerie van BZK 

Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations 

De Koninklijke Vereniging MKB-Nederland 

MKB Nederland 

Royal Association of Dutch SMEs 

Konfederacja Lewiatan 

Pracodawcy Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej 

Zwią ek R emiosła Polskiego 

Zwią ek Pracodawców – Business Centre Club  

Zwią ek Pr edsiębiorców i Pracodawców 

Federacja Pr edsiębiorców Polskich 

Krajowa Izba Gospodarcza 

Confederação Empresarial de Portugal 

Confederação do Comércio e Serviços de Portugal 

Lewiatan 

Confederation Lewiatan 

Pracodawcy RP 

Employers of Republic of Poland 

ZRP 

ZP BCC  

ZPP 

FPP 

KIG/PCC 

CIP 

CCP 

Polish Craft Association 

Employers’ Association – Business Centre Club 

Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers 

Federation of Polish Entrepreneurs 

Polish Chamber of Commerce 

Confederation of Portuguese Business 

Portuguese Commerce and Services Confederation 

SGI Europe Portugal 

SGI Europe Portugal 

SGI Europe Portugal 

Confederação Cooperativa Portuguesa 

CONFECOOP 

Portuguese Cooperative Confederation  

132 

 
Member 
State 

Full name of the employer organisation/business association in original 
language 

Abbreviation of the name in 
original language 

Full name of the employer organisation/business association in English 

PT 

RO 

RO 

RO 

RO 

RO 

RO 

RO 

RO 

SE 

SE 

SE 

SE 

SE 

SE 

SE 

SE 

SI 

SI 

SI 

SI 

SK 

SK 

SK 

SK 

Câmara de Comércio e Indústria Portuguesa 

CCIP 

Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry 

Confederația Patronală Concordia 

CP Concordia  

Employers Confederation ‘Concordia’ 

Consiliul Naţional al Întreprinderilor Private Mici şi Mijlocii din România  

CNIPMMR 

Romanian National Council of Small and Medium Private Enterprises  

Confederația Patronală din Industrie, Agricultură, Construcții și Servicii 
din România  
Uniunea Națională a Patronatului Român  

Camera de Comerţ şi Industrie a României  

Uniunea Generală a Industriașilor din România 

Confederația Patronatul Român 

CONIPROM 

PNR 

CCIR 

UGIR 

CPR 

Confederation of Employers in Industry, Agriculture, Construction and 
Services in Romania 
National Union of Romanian Employers  

Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania 

General Union of Industrialists from Romania 

Confederation of Romanian Employers 

Uniunea Patronatelor din Romania BusinessRomania 

BusinessRomania 

Union of Employers from Romania BusinessRomania 

Sobona 

Arbetsgivarverket 

Svensk Näringsliv  

Sveriges kommuner och regioner  

Arbetsgivaralliansen 

Fremia 

Företagarna 

Sveriges Handelskamrar 

Gospodarska zbornica Slovenije 

Združenje delodajalcev Slovenije 

Združenje delodajalcev obrti in podjetnikov Slovenije 

Obrtno-Podjetniška  bornica Slovenije 

Sobona 

Arbetsgivarverket 

Svenskt Näringsliv 

KFO.SKR 

Sobona 

Swedish Agency for Government Employers  

Confederation of Swedish Enterprises  

Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR) 

Arbetsgivaralliansen 

Arbetsgivaralliansen 

Fremia 

Företagarna 

SH 

GZS 

ZDS 

ZDOPS-GIZ 

OZS 

Co-operative Employers’ Association  

Swedish Federation of Business Owners 

Chambers of Commerce 

Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia 

Association of Employers of Slovenia 

Association of Employers in Craft and Small Business of Slovenia  

Chamber of Craft and Small Businesses of Slovenia 

Asociácia  amestnávateľských  vä ov a  družení Slovenskej republiky  

AZZZ SR 

Federation of Employer Associations of the Slovak Republic 

Republiková únia  amestnávateľov 

Združenie miest a obcí Slovenska 

Asociácia priemyselných zväzov a dopravy 

RUZ 

ZMOS 

APZD 

National Union of Employers 

Association of Towns and Communities of Slovakia 

Association of Industry Unions and Transport 

133 

 
Member 
State 

Full name of the employer organisation/business association in original 
language 

Abbreviation of the name in 
original language 

Full name of the employer organisation/business association in English 

SK 

Slovenská obchodná a priemyselná komora 

SOPK 

Slovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry 

134 

 
Annex 4: Cross-sector-relatedness of national 
member organisations of EU social partners and 
other European associations identified in this study 
(CESI and Eurochambres) 

Table 48: Number of sectors covered by ETUC member organisations 

Member States  1–4  

5–9  

10–19  

20–29  

30–39  

40–45  

Sectors covered (number) 

Total  

AT  

BE 

BG 

CY 

CZ 

DE 

DK 

EE 

EL 

ES 

FI 

FR 

HR 

HU 

IE 

IT 

LT 

LU 

LV 

MT 

NL 

1 trade union 
in 1 Member 
State 

7 trade unions 
in 6 Member 
States 

5 trade unions 
in 5 Member 
States 

10 trade 
unions in 9 
Member 
States 

12 trade 
unions in 10 
Member 
States 

36 trade unions 
in 18 Member 
States 

ÖGB 
ABVV-FGTB, 
ACV-CSC, 
ACLVB-CGSLB 

ΠΑΣΥΔΥ/ 
PASYDY 

ΔΕΟΚ/DEOK 

ΣΕΚ/SEK 

КТ ‘Подкрепа’ 

КНСБ 

TALO 

ΑΔΕΔΥ 

EAKL 

STTK 

CCP 

Akava 

SZEF, ÉSZT 

Munkástanács
ok 

NHS 
MASZSZ, LIGA 
Szakszervezete
k 

LDF 

ČMKOS 

FH, 
Akademikerne, 
Forhandlingsfæl
lesskabet  

ΓΣΕΕ 
CCOO, ELA-STV, 
UGT 

SAK 
CFDT, CGT, CFE-
CGC, CFTC, 
UNSA, CFDT 
Cadres, UGICT-
CGT 

DGB 

USO 

CGT-FO (FO), 
FO Cadres 

SSSH 

ICTU 
CGIL, CISL, UIL, 
APIQA CGIL 

LPS 
‘Solidarumas’ 

LPSK 

OGB-L, LCGB 

LBAS 

For.U.M 

CMTU 

VCP 

GWU 

CNV 

FNV 

135 

 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
PL 

PT 

RO 

SE 

SI 

SK 

CSDR  

NSZZ 
Solidarność, 
OPZZ, FZZ 

CGTP-IN, UGT 

LO, TCO 

ZSSS 

BNS, CNS 
‘Cartel ALFA’ 

CNSRL Frăția 

Saco 

KOZ SR 

Table 49: Number of sectors covered by CEC European Managers’ national affiliates 

Member States  1–4  

5–9  

10–19  

20–29  

30–39  

40–45  

Sectors covered (number) 

Total  

0 

0 

2 trade unions 
in 2 Member 
States 

1 trade union 
in 1 Member 
State 

1 trade union 
in 1 Member 
State 

BE 

CZ 

DE  

DK 

EL68 

ES 

FI 

FR 

IT 

PT 

SE 

SI69 

ULA 

CCP 

Akava 

Ledarna 

6 trade unions 
in 6 Member 
States 
CNC-NCK 

ČMA 

LH 

CFE-CGC 

CIDA 

USI 

Table 50: Number of sectors covered by Eurocadres member organisations 

Member States  1–4  

5–9  

10–19  

20–29  

30–39  

40–45  

Sectors covered (number) 

Total  

AT 

BE 

BG  

CZ 

DE 

DK 

EL 

ES 

1 trade union 
in 1 Member 
State 

4 trade unions 
in 4 Member 
States 

3 trade unions 
in 3 Member 
States 

3 trade unions 
in 3 Member 
States 

5 trade unions 
in 4 Member 
States 

DGB 

CCP 

68 Information not available. 
69 Information not available. 

34 trade 
unions in 15 
Member 
States 

ÖGB 
ABVV-FGTB, 
ACV-CSC, 
ACLVB-CGSLB 
КНСБ, КТ 
‘Подкрепа’ 

ČMKOS 

FH, 
Akademikerne 
ΓΣΕΕ 

CCOO, UGT 

136 

 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
FI 

FR 

HU 

IT 

LT 

LU 

LV 

MT 

NL 

PL 

PT 

RO 

SI 

Akava 

STTK 

FSU 

ÉSZT 

CGT-FO (FO), 
FO Cadres 

For.U.M 

CMTU 

VCP 

GWU 

CNV 

F.S.L.C.P.R. 

FNV 

BNS 

CFDT, CGT, 
CFTC, UNSA, 
CFDT Cadres, 
UGICT-CGT, 
CFTC Cadres 

CGIL, CISL, 
APIQA CGIL, 
UIL 
LPSK, LPS 
‘Solidarumas’ 

OGB-L, LCGB 

LBAS 

NSZZ 
Solidarność, 
OPZZ 

CGTP-IN, UGT 

ZSSS 

Table 51: Number of sectors covered by CESI nationally affiliated organisations (direct members) 

1–4  

5–9  

10–19  

20–29  

30–39  

40–45  

Sectors covered (number) 

8 trade unions 
in 4 Member 
States 

5 trade unions 
in 5 Member 
States 

3 trade unions 
in 3 Member 
States 

2 trade unions 
in 2 Member 
States 

2 trade unions 
in 2 Member 
States 

4 trade unions 
in 4 Member 
States 
ÖGB (CESI 
members GPF-
FCG and GÖD-
FCG) 

CFE-CGC, CFTC 

CONFSAL 

CISAL 

LBAS70 

CGB 

dbb  
FASGA (now 
VALORIAN) 

CSIF 

ANPE, SATSE, 
SEMAF, SAE 

TVML 

SPELC, CSEN 

FA-FP 

MKKSZ 

CONFEDIR 

RJPS 

CGFP 

NCF 

CNV-
Connectief71 

FSLCPR 

CSN Meridian 

Member 
States 

Total  

AT 

DE  

ES 

FI 

FR 

HU 

IT 

LT  

LU 

LV 

NL 

PT  

RO  

70 The LVIPUFDA and LAADA unions of the LBAS are part of CESI and have a double affiliation, to CESI and ETUC. 
71 CNV-Connectief, part of CNV, is a part of CESI and has a double affiliation, to CESI and ETUC. 

137 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table 52: Cross-sector-relatedness of some of the CESI member organisations (clarifications provided 
by CESI) 

CESI member 
organisation 

CSIF 

CGB 

dbb 

MKKSZ 

CISAL 

CONFSAL 

RJPS 

CGFP 

Member State 

ES 

DE 

DE 

HU 

IT 

IT 

LT 

LU 

Agriculture 

Audiovisual 

Banking 

Central government 
administration 

Chemical industry 

Civil aviation 

Commerce 

Construction 

Contract catering 

Education 

Electricity 

Extractive industries 

Food and drink 
industry 

Footwear 

Furniture 

Gas 

Graphical industry 

Hospitals and 
healthcare 

Hotels, restaurants 
and catering 

Industrial cleaning 

Inland waterways 

Insurance 

Live performance 

Local and regional 
governments 

Maritime transport 

Metal industry 

Paper industry 

Personal 
services/hairdressing 

Ports 

Postal services 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

138 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Private security 

Professional football 

Railways 

Road transport 

Sea fisheries 

Shipbuilding 

Social services 

Steel 

Sugar 

Tanning and leather 

Telecommunications 

Temporary agency 
work 

Textile and clothing 

Woodworking 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

Total 

32 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

27 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

13 

5 

 43 

34 

9 

5 

Table 53: Number of sectors covered by BusinessEurope’s national affiliates 

Member 
States 

Total 

1–4  

0 

5–9  

0 

AT  

BE 

BG 

CY 

CZ 

DE 

DK 

EE 

EL 

ES 

FI 

FR 

HR 

HU 

IE 

IT 

LT 

Number of sectors covered 

10–19  

20–29  

30–39  

40–45  

5 employer 
organisations 
in 4 Member 
States 
IV, VÖWG 

10 employer 
organisations 
in 10 Member 
States 

13 employer 
organisations 
in 12 Member 
States 

5 employer 
organisations 
in 5 Member 
States 

ZDH 

ΣΕΒ (SEV) 

ΟΕΒ 

ETKL 

CEOE 

EK 

VBO-FEB 

BDA 

DA, DI 

MEDEF 

HUP 

MGYOSZ 

Ibec 

Confindustria 

БСК 

SP ČR 

BDI 

CEPYME 

LPK 

139 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
LU 

LV 

MT 

NL 

PL 

PT 

RO 

SE 

SI 

SK 

UEL 

LDDK 

Malta 
Chamber 

VNO-NCW 

FEDIL 

Lewiatan 

CIP 

ZDS 

RUZ 

Svenskt 
Näringsliv 

CP Concordia  

Table 54: Number of sectors covered by SMEunited national affiliates 

Member 
States 

Total  

AT  

BE 

BG 

CY 

DE 

DK 

EE 

FI 

FR 

EL 

ES 

HR 

HU 

IE 

IT 

LT 

LU 

LV 

1–4  

5–9  

10–19  

20–29  

30–39  

40–45  

Number of sectors covered 

2 employer 
organisations 
in 2 Member 
States 

3 employer 
organisations 
in 3 Member 
States 

13 employer 
organisations in 
13 Member States 

9 employer 
organisations 
in 6 Member 
States 

5 employer 
organisations 
in 5 Member 
States 
WKÖ 

3 employer 
organisations 
in 2 Member 
States 

Unizo, UCM 

ССИ (UPEE) 

ΚΕΒΕ (CCCI) 

ZDH 

SMVdanmark 

U2P 

ΕΣΕΕ (ESEE) 

ΓΣΕΒΕΕ (GSEVEE) 

EVEA 

SY 

CPME, CMA 
France 

CEPYME, ATA, 
PIMEC 

Confartigianato 

HOK 

IPOSZ 

ISME 

Confcommercio-
Imprese per 
l’Italia72 

FDA, CDM 

LBS 

HUP 

CNA 

LPPARA 

72 Since 1 January 2023, Confcommercio has no longer been a member of SMEunited. 

140 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
MT 

NL 

PL 

PT 

RO 

SE 

SI 

Malta 
Chamber of 
SMEs 

MKB Nederland 

ZRP 

CCP 

CNIPMMR 

ZDOPS-GIZ 

OZS 

Table 55: Number of sectors covered by SGI Europe national affiliates 

Företagarna 

Member 
State 

Total  

AT  

BE 

BG 

DE 

DK 

EL73 

ES 

FI 

FR 

IT 

LU 

MT 

NL 

PL 

PT 

RO 

SE 

SI 

1–4  

5–9  

Number of sectors covered 
10–19  

20–29  

9 employer 
organisations in 7 
Member States 

Unisoc 

6 employer 
organisations 
in 5 Member 
States 

0 

4 employer 
organisations 
in 4 Member 
States 
VÖWG 

30–39  

40–45  

2 employer 
organisations 
in 2 Member 
States 

2 employer 
organisations 
in 2 Member 
States 

АИКБ 

TdL 

VKA 

BVÖD 

KL, Danske 
Regioner, MEDST 

SGI Europe 
Spain 

UDES 

KT 

VTML 

Confservizi 

Ministerie van BZK 

SGI Europe 
Portugal 

Arbetsgivareverket 

SKR, KFO 

Sobona 

UEL 

MEA 

Pracodawcy 
RP 

73 Information not available.  

141 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table 56: Number of sectors covered by Eurochambres’ national affiliates 

Member 
State 

Total  

5–9  

0 

1–4  

1 employer 
organisation 
in 1 Member 
State 

Number of sectors covered 
20–29  

30–39  

10–19  

1 employer 
organisation 
in 1 Member 
State 
VÖWG 

2 employer 
organisations 
in 2 Member 
States 

БТПП 

AT 
BG 

CY 

CZ 

DE 

EE 

ES 

FI 

LT 

LU 

LV 

MT 

NL 

PT 

SI 

VNG 

CIP 

7 employer 
organisations 
in 7 Member 
States 
WKÖ 

ΚΕΒΕ (CCCI) 

DIHK 

LPPARA 

UEL 

Malta 
Chamber 

GZS 

40–45  

4 employer 
organisations in 4 
Member States 

HK ČR 

EKTK 

Keskuskauppakamari 

LTRK 

142 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Annex 5: Bipartite and tripartite cross-industry social dialogue structures in the 
Member States 

Member 
State 

Name of the body  

Bipartite/tripartite 

Domain of activity (topics) 

Cross-industry 
trade unions with 
representatives  
ÖGB, AK 

Cross-industry employer 
organisations with 
representatives 
WKÖ, IV, LKA 

AT 

BE 

BE 

BE 

BE 

BG74 

BG 

BG 

BG 

Advisory Council for Economic and Social 
Affairs (Beirat für Wirtschafts- und 
Sozialfragen) 
Labour National Council (Conseil National 
du Travail (CNT)/Nationale Aarbeidsraad 
(NAR)) 
Central Economic Council (Conseil 
Central de l’Economie (CCE)/Centrale 
Raad voor het Bedrijfsleven (CRB)) 
Group of Ten (Groupe des dix/Groep van 
Tien) 

High-level Health and Safety Committee 
(Conseil Supérieur pour la Prévention et 
la Protection au Travail (CSPPT)/Hoge 
Raad voor Preventie en Bescherming op 
het Werk (HRPBW)) 
National Council of Tripartite 
Cooperation 
National Council for Employment 

National Council for Health and Safety at 
Work 
Supervisory Board of National Insurance 
Institute 

74 The list of bodies for Bulgaria is not exhaustive.  

Bipartite 

All topics in the realm of economic and social 
affairs 

Bipartite 

Wide range of work-related topics 

Bipartite 

Wide range of work-related topics 

Bipartite 

Highest level of social partner negotiations 

Bipartite 

Health and safety 

ABVV-FGTB, ACV-
CSC, ACLVB-CGSLB 

ABVV-FGTB, ACV-
CSC, ACLVB-CGSLB 

ABVV-FGTB, ACV-
CSC, ACLVB-CGSLB 

ABVV-FGTB, ACV-
CSC, ACLVB-CGSLB 

Tripartite 

Tripartite 

Labour market, wages , social security and 
pensions 
Employment 

CITUB, CL Podkrepa 

CITUB, CL Podkrepa 

Tripartite 

Health and safety at work 

CITUB, CL Podkrepa 

Tripartite 

Insurance issues 

CITUB, CL Podkrepa 

VBO-FEB, Unizo, UCM, 
Unisoc, Unipso, 
Boerenbond 
VBO-FEB, Unizo, UCM, 
Unisoc, Unipso, 
Boerenbond 
VBO-FEB, Unizo, UCM, 
Unisoc, Unipso, 
Boerenbond 
VBO-FEB, Unizo, UCM, 
Unisoc, Unipso, 
Boerenbond 

BIA, BICA, BCCI, CEIBG, 
UPEE 
BIA, BICA, BCCI, CEIBG, 
UPEE 
BIA, BICA, BCCI, CEIBG, 
UPEE 
BIA, BICA, BCCI, CEIBG, 
UPEE 

143 

 
 
Name of the body  

Bipartite/tripartite 

Domain of activity (topics) 

Member 
State 

BG 

BG 

BG 

Supervisory Council of the National 
Agency for Vocational Education and 
Training 
Governing bodies of the National Health 
Insurance Fund 
Economic and Social Council of Bulgaria 
(not a social dialogue body) 

BG 

Labour Migration Council 

Tripartite 

Vocational education and training 

Multipartite 

Health insurance and health services 

CITUB, CL Podkrepa 

Tripartite, but the 
third party is not the 
government. It is the 
representatives of 
various interests, not 
a social dialogue 
structure  
Tripartite 

Economic and social policy 

CITUB, CL Podkrepa 

Migration policy 

Cross-industry 
trade unions with 
representatives  
CITUB, CL Podkrepa 

Cross-industry employer 
organisations with 
representatives 
BIA, BICA, BCCI, CEIBG, 
UPEE 

CY 

CY 
CY 

CY 

CY 
CY 
CY 

CY 
CY 
CY 

Labour Advisory Body 

Tripartite 

All labour-related issues 

National Employment Committee 
Board of the Human Resource 
Development Authority 
Board of the Social Insurance Fund 

Tripartite  
Tripartite  

Employment policy 
Training 

Tripartite  

Social security issues 

Board of the Annual Leave Fund 
Board of the Redundancy Fund 
Committee for Gender Equality in 
Employment and Vocational Training 
Pancyprian Council for Health and Safety 
Consumers Advisory Committee 
Board of the Health Insurance 

Tripartite  
Tripartite  
Tripartite  

Tripartite  
Tripartite  
Tripartite  

Annual leave issues 
Compensation of redundant employees 
Gender equality 

Health and safety 
Consumers’ protection 
Obligatory health insurance 

PEO, SEK, DEOK, 
PASYDY (observer), 
POASO (observer) 
PEO, SEK, DEOK 
PEO, SEK, DEOK 

PEO, SEK, DEOK, 
PASYDY (observer) 
PEO, SEK, DEOK 
PEO, SEK, DEOK 
PEO, SEK, DEOK 

PEO, SEK, DEOK 
PEO, SEK, DEOK 
PEO, SEK, DEOK, 

BIA, BICA, BCCI, CEIBG, 
UPEE 
BIA, BICA, BCCI, CEIBG 

All nationally 
representative employer 
and worker organisations 
plus government 
representatives 
OEB, CCCI 

OEB, CCCI 
OEB, CCCI 

OEB, CCCI 

OEB, CCCI 
OEB, CCCI 
OEB, CCCI 

OEB, CCCI 
OEB, CCCI 
OEB, CCCI 

144 

 
 
Member 
State 

Name of the body  

Bipartite/tripartite 

Domain of activity (topics) 

Tripartite  

Tripartite 

Regulation of complementary retirement 
benefit funds 
Essential issues of economic and social 
development in general 

Cross-industry 
trade unions with 
representatives  
PASYDY  
PEO, SEK, DEOK 

Cross-industry employer 
organisations with 
representatives 

OEB, CCCI 

ČMKOS, ASO ČR 

SP ČR, KZPS 

CY 

CZ 

CZ 

CZ 

CZ 

CZ 

CZ 

CZ 

CZ 

DE 

Organisation 
Council of Occupational Retirement 
Benefits Funds 
Council of Economic and Social 
Agreement of the Czech Republic (Rada 
hospodářské a sociální dohody České 
republiky) 
Government Council for Equality of 
Women and Men (Rada vlády pro 
rovnost žen a mužů) 
Government Council for Seniors and 
Population Ageing (Rada vlády pro 
seniory a stárnutí populace) 
Government Council for Competitiveness 
and Economic Growth (Rada vlády pro 
konkurenceschopnost a hospodářský 
růst) 
Government Council for Safety, Hygiene 
and Health at Work (Rada vlády pro 
ochranu  draví při práci) 
Government Council for Sustainable 
Development (Rada vlády pro udržitelný 
rozvoj) 
Government Council for Information 
Society (Rada vlády pro informační 
společnost) 
Council for European Structural and 
Investment Funds (Rada pro evropské 
strukturální a investiční fondy) 
Minimum Wage Commission 
(Mindestlohnkommission) 

Tripartite 

Equal opportunities 

ČMKOS, ASO ČR 

SP ČR, KZPS 

Tripartite 

Population ageing 

ČMKOS 

SP ČR, KZPS ČR 

Tripartite 

Economic growth, competitiveness 

ČMKOS 

SP ČR, KZPS ČR, HK ČR 

Tripartite 

Health at work 

ČMKOS, ASO ČR 

SP ČR, KZPS ČR 

Tripartite 

Sustainable development 

ČMKOS, ASO ČR 

SP ČR, HK ČR 

Tripartite 

Information society, digitalisation 

ČMKOS, ASO ČR 

SP ČR, KZPS ČR, HK ČR 

Tripartite 

European structural funds 

ČMKOS 

SP ČR, HK ČR 

Bipartite 

National minimum wage 

Yes (changing 
composition of 
members) 

Yes (changing composition 
of members) 

145 

 
Name of the body  

Bipartite/tripartite 

Domain of activity (topics) 

Member 
State 

DK 

DK 

DK 

Kompetence-sekretariatet (Competence 
Secretariat) and Den Statslige 
Kompetencefond (Competence Fund of 
the State) 
SU-udvalg (Cooperation Councils 
Committee) and Samarbejdssekretariat 
(Cooperation Secretariat) 

Bipartite 

Bipartite 

Partnerskab for udvikling af attraktive og 
bæredygtige statslige arbejdspladser 
(partnership for development of 
attractive and sustainable workplaces in 
the State) 

Bipartite 

DK 

Samarbejdsnævnet (Cooperation Board) 

Tripartite 

DK 

Arbejdsmiljørådet (Danish Working 
Environment Council) 

Tripartite 

The secretariat and fund for vocational training 
for state employees. It is part of the collective 
agreements 

A committee that acts as the Board of 
Directors of the Cooperation Secretariat of 
state employees. The central parties are 
represented on the committee and it is the 
committee’s task to promote the work of local 
works councils through broad information and 
guidance activities 
Part of the latest collective agreement 
settlement in 2021 – has not found an official 
name yet, but it was mentioned by CFU in 
regard to this study. It establishes a 
partnership for the development of attractive 
and sustainable workplaces in the state 
The Cooperation Board was established by DA 
and LO (now merged with FTF to become FH) 
as part of the cooperation agreement. The 
committee consists of up to seven 
representatives from each side and their tasks 
are to (1) inform, guide and develop work that 
promotes cooperation within enterprises, (2) 
assist in the establishment and guidance of 
cooperation committees and (3) set up a forum 
for the resolution of disputes as provided 
under section 6 
The Working Environment Council advises the 
Minister for Employment on current health 
and safety policy issues about possible 
improvements and about the challenges in the 

Cross-industry 
trade unions with 
representatives  
CFU, Akademikerne  Danish Ministry of Finance 

Cross-industry employer 
organisations with 
representatives 

(MEDST) 

CFU: directly in the 
committee and 
indirectly via its 
participating central 
organisations 

The Danish Ministry of 
Taxation is mentioned on 
the agreement from 2021, 
but now the obligations are 
with MEDST under the 
Ministry of Finance 

CFU 

Ministry of Finance 
(MEDST) 

FH 

DA 

FH, Akademikerne 

DA, LH, KL, Danske 
Regioner, MEDST 

146 

 
Member 
State 

Name of the body  

Bipartite/tripartite 

Domain of activity (topics) 

DK 

DK 

DK 

Beskæftigelsesrådet (BER) (National 
Employment Council) 

Tripartite  

Erhvervssygdoms-udvalget (Occupational 
Diseases Committee) 

Tripartite  

Følgegruppe for Fonden for Forebyggelse 
og Fasholdelse (expert monitoring group 
for the Prevention and Retention Fund) 

Tripartite  

DK 

Erhvervslivets EU- og Regelforum (Danish 
Business Regulation Forum)  

Tripartite  

field of working conditions that Danish 
workplaces are experiencing 
The council advises the Minister of 
Employment concerning major employment 
policy initiatives as well as the minister’s 
annual goals for employment policy. The 
council also gives advice on test projects and 
proposals for new legislation 
The committee assesses specific occupational 
injury cases in which a disease is not included 
in the list of occupational diseases but the 
disease is likely to be caused by work. The 
committee also regularly advises the Minister 
for Employment which diseases meet the 
requirements for inclusion on the list of 
occupational diseases 
The aim of the monitoring group is to guide the 
administration. The funds are used for 
prevention, retention and inclusion in the 
labour market by supporting interventions that 
prevent physical and mental attrition, 
accidents at work and occupational diseases. 
The funds can only be invested in Danish 
government bonds 
The main tasks of the forum are to propose 
and advise the government on (1) 
simplification of the rules in areas where 
Danish companies are subject to rules that 
impose onerous costs on them, (2) future EU-
oriented regulation, where early, proactive 
action can create simpler rules, and (3) 
simplification of rules in areas where 

Cross-industry 
trade unions with 
representatives  

Cross-industry employer 
organisations with 
representatives 

FH, Akademikerne 

DA, LH, KL, Danske 
Regioner 

FH 

DA 

FH, Akademikerne 

DA, LH, KL, Danske 
Regioner 

FH, Akademikerne 

DA, SMVdanmark 

147 

 
Member 
State 

Name of the body  

Bipartite/tripartite 

Domain of activity (topics) 

DK 

DK 

EE 

EE 

EE 

EE 

EE 
EE 

EE 

EL 

Tilsynsrådet (Local Government 
Supervisory Council) 

Tripartite  

Ankenævnet vedrørende 
Praktikpladsvirksomhed (Appeals Board 
for Internship Activities)  

Tripartite  

Council of the Estonian Unemployment 
Insurance Fund 
Council of the Estonian Health Insurance 
Fund 
Council of the Estonian Qualifications 
Authority  
Gender Equality Council (in addition to 
trade unions and employer 
organisations/business associations, 
there are also other non-governmental 
organisations and societal organisations, 
as well as political party representatives) 
Estonian ILO council 
Estonian adult education council (in 
addition to trade unions and employer 
organisations/business associations, 
there are also other organisations) 
Tripartite regular meetings (government 
and peak-level social partners) 
Economic and Social Council of Greece 

digitalisation and new technological 
opportunities challenge regulation 
The council is the central supervisory body in 
relation to the Danish Agency for Labour 
Market and Recruitment’s supervision of 
unemployment insurance funds and 
municipalities. The council acts as an advisory 
body to the Minister of Employment 
The task of this body is to settle complaints 
from companies that have not been approved 
as internship companies by the trade union 
committee or have had their approval revoked 
Labour market, (un)employment 

Cross-industry 
trade unions with 
representatives  

Cross-industry employer 
organisations with 
representatives 

FH, Akademikerne 

DA, KL 

FH 

DA, KL/Danske Regioner 
(shared member), Ministry 
of Finance 

EAKL, TALO 

EAKL 

ETKL 

ETKL 

Tripartite  

Tripartite  

Health 

Tripartite  

Tripartite  

Development, assessment and recognition of 
persons’ occupational competence 
Gender equality 

EAKL, TALO 

ETKL, EKTK 

EAKL 

ETKL, EVEA 

Tripartite  
Tripartite  

ILO-related matters 
Adult education 

EAKL, TALO 
EAKL, TALO 

ETKL 
ETKL, EKTK 

Tripartite  

Tripartite 

All kind of topics related to labour, business 
and social policy  
Wages, skills, training, working time, 

EAKL 

ETKL 

GSEE and ADEDY 

SEV, GSEVEE, ESEE, SETE 

148 

 
Member 
State 

Name of the body  

Bipartite/tripartite 

Domain of activity (topics) 

EL 

EL 

EL 

EL 

EL 
ES 

ES 

ES 

ES 

ES 

(OKE) 
Organization for Arbitration and 
Mediation (OMED) 
Supreme Labour Council (ASE) 

Council for Health and Safety at Work 
(SYAE) 
Department for Combating Undeclared 
Work 
Government Council for Employment 
Social and Economic Council (Consejo 
Económico y Social (CES)) 
General Council of Vocational Training 
(Consejo General de la Formación 
Profesional) 
Council of the National Employment 
System (Consejo General del Sistema 
Nacional de Empleo) 
National Commission on Collective 
Bargaining (Comisión Consultiva Nacional 
de Convenios Colectivos) 
75 

Bipartite 

Tripartite 

Tripartite 

unemployment, industrial relationships 
Wages, working time, working conditions 

Wages, working time, industrial relations, 
working conditions 
Occupational health and safety 

Cross-industry 
trade unions with 
representatives  

Cross-industry employer 
organisations with 
representatives 

GSEE 

SEV, GSEVEE 

GSEE and ADEDY 

SEV, GSEVEE 

GSEE and ADEDY 

SEV, GSEVEE, ESEE, SETE 

Tripartite 

Combating undeclared work 

GSEE 

SEV, GSEVEE, ESEE, SETE 

Tripartite 
Tripartite 

Tackling unemployment 
Social and economic issues 

Tripartite 

Vocational training 

GSEE 
CCOO, UGT, ELA-
STV, CIG 
CCOO, UGT, ELA-
STV, CIG 

SEV, GSEVEE, ESEE, SETE 
CEOE, CEPYME 

CEOE, CEPYME 

Tripartite 

Public placement services and active labour 
market policies 

CCOO, UGT, ELA-
STV, CIG 

CEOE, CEPYME 

Tripartite 

Collective bargaining 

CCOO, UGT, ELA-
STV, CIG 

CEOE, CEPYME 

75 There are many other tripartite structures in the social field, in which CEOE and CEPYME participate. In the field of industrial relations: Comisión Ejecutiva del Servicio Público de Empleo Estatal, 
Consejo General del Servicio Público de Empleo Estatal, Consejo General del Sistema Nacional de Empleo, Comisión Delegada de Seguimiento y Evaluación del Sistema Nacional de Garantía Juvenil 
Plus, Comisión Tripartita de la Garantía Juvenil, Comisión Consultiva Nacional de Convenios Colectivos, 7 Fundación SIMA and Consejo General del Organismo Autónomo Estatal Inspección de 
Trabajo y Seguridad Social. In the field of social protection: Entidades Gestoras y Servicios Comunes de la Seguridad Social y sus Consejos, el Fondo de Garantía Salarial, Observatorio del Fraude a 
la Seguridad Social, Comité Consultivo del Sistema para la Autonomía y Atención a la Dependencia and Mesa asesora para los cuidados. In the field of health and safety: Comisión Nacional de 
Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo, Comité de enlace con la Agencia Europea de Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo, Consejo General del Instituto Nacional de Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo, Red 
Española de Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo, Fundación Estatal para la Prevención de Riesgos Laborales and Consejo Español de Drogodependencias y otras adicciones. In the field of migration, 
equality, diversity and social inclusion: Comisión Laboral Tripartita de Inmigración, el Foro para la integración social de los inmigrantes, el Consejo para la eliminación de la discriminación racial, 
Consejo de Participación de la Mujer, Consejo de Participación de las personas LGTBI, Observatorio Estatal de Violencia sobre la Mujer, Red de Inclusión Social and Comité de Seguimiento del 
Fondo Social Europeo Plus. 

149 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Member 
State 

Name of the body  

Bipartite/tripartite 

Domain of activity (topics) 

Bipartite  

Not indicated 

Cross-industry 
trade unions with 
representatives  
SAK, STTK, Akava 

Cross-industry employer 
organisations with 
representatives 
EK, KT 

Tripartite 

Bipartite 

Tripartite 

FI 

FR 

FR 

FR 

FR 

FR 

FR 

Retirement (example; the composition is 
changing after the 2022 parliament 
elections) 
Commission nationale de la négociation 
collective de l’emploi et de la formation 
professionnelle (CNNCEFP; National 
Committee for Collective Bargaining, 
Employment and Vocational Training). 
The CNNCEFP has three subcommittees 
(agreements, wage bargaining and 
restructuring of branches) 
Commissions paritaires régionales 
interprofessionnelles (CPRI; Inter-
professional Regional Joint Committees) 

Conseil d’orientation des conditions de 
travail (COCT; Working Conditions 
Advisory Council) 
Conseil d’orientation des retraites (COR; 
Pensions Advisory Council) 

Comité du dialogue social pour les 
questions européennes et internationale 
(CDSEI; Social Dialogue Committee for 
European and International Issues) 
Conseil de la Caisse nationale de 
l’assurance maladie (Managing board of 
the health insurance fund); similar bodies 
exist for all the other branches of 
compulsory social security (pension, 

Employment, vocational training, collective 
bargaining (monitoring, advice on extension), 
wage collective bargaining (respect of 
minimum wage) 

CFDT, CGT, CGT-FO, 
CFE-CGC, CFTC + 
consultative voice 
of UNSA, FSU 

MEDEF, CPME, U2P + 
consultative voice of 
FNSEA, UDES, FESAC 

The CPRI represents, at regional level, the 
interests of employers and employees of 
undertakings with fewer than 11 employees 
that have no information or consultation 
bodies. It deals with employment, vocational 
training and collective bargaining issues 
Health and Safety 

CFDT, CGT, CGT-FO, 
CFE CGC, CFTC 

MEDEF, CPME, U2P 

CFDT, CGT, CGT-FO, 
CFE CGC, CFTC 

MEDEF, CPME, U2P, 
UNAPL, FNSEA/CNMCCA 

CFDT, CGT, CGT-FO, 
CFE-CGC, CFTC, 
UNSA 
CFDT, CGT, CGT-FO, 
CFE-CGC, CFTC 

MEDEF, CPME, U2P, 
UNAPL, FNSEA/CNMCCA 

MEDEF, CPME, U2P, 
UNAPL, FNSEA/CNMCCA 

Tripartite 

Pension 

Tripartite 

European affairs 

Tripartite 

Legal health insurance 

CFDT, CGT, CGT-FO, 
CFE-CGC, CFTC 

MEDEF, CPME, U2P 

150 

 
Member 
State 

Name of the body  

Bipartite/tripartite 

Domain of activity (topics) 

HR 

HU 

HU 

HU 

family) 
Economic and Social Council 

Tripartite 

Permanent Consultation Forum of the 
Private Sector and the Government (VKF) 

Tripartite 

National Economic and Social Council 
(Nemzeti Gazdasági és Társadalmi Tanács 
(NGTT)) 

Multipartite 

Economic and social policy, labour market, 
social security and pensions, health and safety, 
equal opportunities, sustainable development 
Minimum wage, annual recommendation for 
general wage increase for negotiation and 
labour-law related issues for consultation, as 
well as other issues in the area of work-related 
taxation or health and safety, sometimes EU-
related legislation, but only on an ad hoc basis 
and for information or consultation only 
Overall socioeconomic issues, strictly for 
information and consultation without the right 
to negotiate (or take part in collective 
bargaining) 

Közszolgáltatói Vállalkozások 
Konzultációs Fóruma (KVKF) – since 2018 

Tripartite 

Consultation forum for state-owned public 
utility providers 

Cross-industry 
trade unions with 
representatives  

Cross-industry employer 
organisations with 
representatives 

SSSH, NHS, Matica 

HUP (CEA) 

MGYOSZ, VOSZ, ÁFEOSZ 

MGYOSZ, VOSZ, ÁFEOSZ, 
IPOSZ, STRATOSZ 

STRATOSZ 

LIGA 
Szakszervezetek, 
Munkástanácsok, 
MASZSZ 

LIGA 
Szakszervezetek, 
Munkástanácsok, 
MASZSZ, SZEF, 
ÉSZT, 7SZ 
MASZSZ, 
Munkástanácsok, 
LIGA 
Szakszervezetek + 
sectoral unions for 
public utilities: 
VDSzSz Szolidaritás, 
Közlekedési 
Munkástanácsok 
Szövetsége, 
Postások Független 
Érdekvédelmi 
Szövetsége, Vízügyi 
Szakszervezetek 
Országos Ágazati 
Szövetsége 

151 

 
Member 
State 

Name of the body  

Bipartite/tripartite 

Domain of activity (topics) 

HU 

NILO Council 

Tripartite 

Since 2013 the operation of the body has only 
been formal. Mainly labour law issues are 
discussed 

National Public Service Interest 
Reconciliation Council (Országos 
Kö s olgálati Érdekegye tető Tanács 
(OKÉT)) 
Government Commission on Pensions  
Low Wage Commission 

Tripartite 

The body deals with issues related to public 
employees and civil servants, such as wages, 
state support and bonuses 

Tripartite 
Tripartite 

Pensions 
Minimum wage 

Labour Employer Economic Forum  

Tripartite 

Tripartite 

Bipartite 

Tripartite 

Labour Court  

Public Sector Pay Talks  

Tripartite Council of the Republic of 
Lithuania 
Tripartite Council under the PES 

Council of the State Social Insurance 
Fund 
Conseil économique et social 
Comité de coordination tripartite 

Different areas of social policy; currently a 
childcare subgroup and a COVID-19 subgroup 
are active 
State labour dispute service and statutory 
employment law adjudication service 
Scheduled pay and public sector reform talks 
currently occurring every three years; this 
process has some level of continuing 
established bureaucracy and frameworks 
between talks 
Social, labour, employment issues 

Tripartite 

Labour market, unemployment 

Tripartite 

Social security and pensions 

Tripartite 
Tripartite 

All topics 
Labour market 

HU 

IE 
IE 

IE 

IE 

IE 

LT 

LT 

LT 

LU 
LU 

Cross-industry 
trade unions with 
representatives  
LIGA 
Szakszervezetek, 
Munkástanácsok, 
MASZSZ, SZEF, ÉSZT 
Munkástanácsok, 
SZEF, ÉSZT, 
MASZSZ, LIGA 

ICTU 
ICTU (although 
recently resigned) 
ICTU 

ICTU 

ICTU 

LPSK, LPS 
‘Solidarumas’, RJPS 
LPSK, LPS 
‘Solidarumas’ 
LPSK, LPS 
‘Solidarumas’ 
OGB-L, LCGB, CGFP 
OGB-L, LCGB, CGFP 

Cross-industry employer 
organisations with 
representatives 
MGYOSZ, VOSZ, ÁFEOSZ 

Government (relevant 
ministries), local 
government reps 

Ibec 
Ibec 

Ibec 

Ibec 

Department of Public 
Expenditure and Reform 

LPK, LPPARA, LDK, LŽŪR, 
LVK, IF 
LPK, LPPARA, LVK 

LPK, LPPARA, LDK, LVK, IF 

Variable 
Professional chambers (not 
considered real employer 
organisations) 
Variable 

152 

LU 

Comité permanent du travail et de 

Tripartite 

Labour market 

OGB-L, LCGB, CGFP 

 
Name of the body  

Bipartite/tripartite 

Domain of activity (topics) 

Member 
State 

LV 

MT 

l’emploi 
National Tripartite Cooperation Council 

Tripartite 

Malta Council for Economic and Social 
Development (MCESD) 

Tripartite 

MT 

Employment Relations Board (ERB) 

Tripartite 

Whole economy (budget and tax policy, 
labour), social security, vocational education, 
employment, health, transport, 
communications, environmental protection, 
public security, competitiveness, sustainability 
An advisory council that issues opinions and 
recommendations to the Maltese government 
on matters of economic and social relevance 
Makes recommendations to the minister 
responsible for labour on any national 
minimum conditions of employment for 
eventual inclusion in a national standard order 
and on any sectoral conditions of employment 
for eventual inclusion in a sectoral regulation 
order. Also advises the minister responsible for 
labour on any matters relating to conditions of 
employment or on any matters referred to the 
board by the minister 
All topics 
Sectoral issues 

NL 
PL 

PL 

PL 

PL 

PL 

Sociaal Economische Raad (SER) 
Social Dialogue Council (RDS) 

Tripartite 
Tripartite 

Tripartite Team for the Social Security of 
Miners 
Tripartite Team for Social Conditions for 
the Restructuring of Metallurgy 
Tripartite Team for the Energy Sector 

Tripartite Team for the Development of 
the Industrial Defence Potential and 
Technical Modernisation of the Armed 
Forces 

Tripartite 

Sectoral issues 

Tripartite 

Sectoral issues 

Tripartite 

Sectoral issues 

Tripartite 

Sectoral issues 

Cross-industry 
trade unions with 
representatives  

Cross-industry employer 
organisations with 
representatives 

LBAS 

LDDK 

GWU, CMTU, 
Forum 

MEA, Malta Chamber, 
Malta Chamber of SMEs 

GWU, CMTU, 
Forum 

MEA, Malta Chamber of 
SMEs 

FNV, CNV, VCP 
NSZZ ‘Solidarność’, 
OPZZ, FZZ  
NSZZ ‘Solidarność’, 
OPZZ, FZZ  
NSZZ ‘Solidarność’, 
OPZZ, FZZ  
NSZZ ‘Solidarność’, 
OPZZ, FZZ  
NSZZ ‘Solidarność’, 
OPZZ, FZZ  

VNO-NCW, MKB Nederland 
KL, Pracodawcy RP, ZP BCC, 
ZRP, ZPP  
KL, Pracodawcy RP, ZP BCC, 
ZRP, ZPP  
KL, Pracodawcy RP, ZP BCC, 
ZRP, ZPP  
KL, Pracodawcy RP, ZP BCC, 
ZRP, ZPP  
KL, Pracodawcy RP, ZP BCC, 
ZRP, ZPP  

153 

 
Member 
State 

Name of the body  

Bipartite/tripartite 

Domain of activity (topics) 

PL 

PL 

PL 

PL 

PL 

PL 

PL 

PL 

PL 

PL 

PL 

PT 

Tripartite Team for Mining and Sulfur 
Processing 
Tripartite Team for Light Industry 

Tripartite 

Sectoral issues 

Tripartite 

Sectoral issues 

Tripartite Team for the Chemical Industry 

Tripartite 

Sectoral issues 

Tripartite Brown Coal Mining Team 

Tripartite 

Sectoral issues 

Tripartite Team for the Shipbuilding 
Industry 
Tripartite Railway Group 

Tripartite 

Sectoral issues 

Tripartite 

Sectoral issues 

Tripartite Team for Health Protection 

Tripartite 

Sectoral issues 

Tripartite Team for Sea Shipping and 
Fisheries 
Tripartite Team for Construction and 
Municipal Economy 
Tripartite Industry Team for Airport 
Transport and Air Service 
Food Processing Industry Tripartite Team 

Tripartite 

Sectoral issues 

Tripartite 

Sectoral issues 

Tripartite 

Sectoral issues 

Tripartite 

Sectoral issues 

Standing Committee of Social 
Concertation (Comissão Permanente de 
Concertação Social (CPCS))  

Tripartite 

RO 

National Tripartite Council (Consiliul 
National Tripartit) 

Tripartite 

Labour legislation, individual and collective 
work relations, wage setting by minimum 
wage, employment policies, vocational 
education and training, health and safety, 
social security, economic issues, fiscal and 
social policies 
The council (1) ensures the consultation 
framework for establishing the minimum wage 
guaranteed in payment, (2) debates and 
analyses programmes and strategies, (3) 

Cross-industry 
trade unions with 
representatives  
NSZZ ‘Solidarność’, 
OPZZ, FZZ  
NSZZ ‘Solidarność’, 
OPZZ, FZZ  
NSZZ ‘Solidarność’, 
OPZZ, FZZ  
NSZZ ‘Solidarność’, 
OPZZ, FZZ  
NSZZ ‘Solidarność’, 
OPZZ, FZZ  
NSZZ ‘Solidarność’, 
OPZZ, FZZ  
NSZZ ‘Solidarność’, 
OPZZ, FZZ  
NSZZ ‘Solidarność’, 
OPZZ, FZZ  
NSZZ ‘Solidarność’, 
OPZZ, FZZ  
NSZZ ‘Solidarność’, 
OPZZ, FZZ  
NSZZ ‘Solidarność’, 
OPZZ, FZZ  
CGTP-IN, UGT 

Cross-industry employer 
organisations with 
representatives 
KL, Pracodawcy RP, ZP BCC, 
ZRP, ZPP  
KL, Pracodawcy RP, ZP BCC, 
ZRP, ZPP  
KL, Pracodawcy RP, ZP BCC, 
ZRP, ZPP  
KL, Pracodawcy RP, ZP BCC, 
ZRP, ZPP  
KL, Pracodawcy RP, ZP BCC, 
ZRP, ZPP  
KL, Pracodawcy RP, ZP BCC, 
ZRP, ZPP  
KL, Pracodawcy RP, ZP BCC, 
ZRP, ZPP  
KL, Pracodawcy RP, ZP BCC, 
ZRP, ZPP  
KL, Pracodawcy RP, ZP BCC, 
ZRP, ZPP  
KL, Pracodawcy RP, ZP BCC, 
ZRP, ZPP  
KL, Pracodawcy RP, ZP BCC, 
ZRP, ZPP  
CIP, CCP, CAP, CTP 

CNSRL Frăția, BNS, 
CSDR, CSN 
Meridian, CNS 
‘Cartel ALFA’ 

CONPIROM, CP Concordia, 
CNIPMMR 

154 

 
Member 
State 

Name of the body  

Bipartite/tripartite 

Domain of activity (topics) 

Cross-industry 
trade unions with 
representatives  

Cross-industry employer 
organisations with 
representatives 

develops and supports the implementation of 
strategies, programmes, methodologies and 
standards in the field of social dialogue, (4) 
resolves social and economic disputes through 
tripartite dialogue, (5) negotiates and 
concludes agreements and social pacts, as well 
as other agreements at national level, and 
monitors their application, (6) analyses and, as 
the case may require, approves requests for 
extending the application of collective labour 
contracts at sectoral level for all units in the 
respective sector of activity and (7) establishes 
the sectors of activity, which are approved by a 
decision of the government 
Work environment 

Sunt arbetsliv 

Bipartite 

Prevent 

Bipartite 

Work environment 

AFA Försäkring 

Bipartite 

Insurance 

TSL 
TRR 
Arbetsmiljörådet 

Bipartite 
Bipartite 
Bipartite 

Conversion 
Conversion 
Work environment 

Economic and Social Council of Slovenia 

Tripartite 

SE 

SE 

SE 

SE 
SE 
SE 

SI 

Industrial relations, working conditions and 
labour legislation, health and safety, social 
rights and employment policy, social security 
and pensions 
All relevant policy issues concerning economy, 
employment, working conditions and wages 

SK 

Economic and Social Council (HSR) 

Tripartite 

TCO, SACO, LO, 
Ledarna 
TCO, SACO, LO, 
Ledarna 
TCO, SACO, LO, 
Ledarna 
LO 
SACO, TCO. Ledarna 
TCO, SACO, LO, 
Ledarna 
ZSSS, KS-90, KNSS-
Neodvisnost, 
Alternativa, 
Solidarnost, KSJS 
KOZ SR (informally 
also represents 
NKOS) 

KFO.SKR, Sobona 

Svenskt Näringsliv 

Svenskt Näringsliv 

Svenskt Näringsliv 
Svenkst Näringsliv 
SKR, Sobona 

ZDS, GZS, OZS, ZDOPS-GIZ, 
Slovenian Chamber of 
Commerce  

AZZZ SR, RUZ, APZD, ZMOS 

155 

 
Annex 6: 2022 update of workforce and company 
numbers 

Table 57: Number of people in employment, number of employees and employment rate in the 20–
64 age group and number of enterprises (2022 update of Tables 2 and 3) 

Number of persons 
in employment aged 
20–64 (000s) 
4,219 

Number of 
employees aged 20–
64 (000s) 
13,071.2 

Employment rate 
of 20–64 age 
group (%) 
77.3 

Member State 

% of EU 
workforce 

AT 

BE 

BG 

CY 

CZ 

DE  

DK 

EE 

EL 

ES 

FI 

FR 

HR 

HU 

IE 

IT 

LT 

LU 

LV 

MT 

NL 

PL 

PT 

RO 

SE 

SI 

SK 

2 

3 

2 

0 

3 

21 

1 

0 

2 

10 

1 

14 

1 

2 

1 

12 

1 

0 

0 

0 

4 

8 

2 

4 

2 

0 

1 

4,849 

3,042 

432 

4,996 

39,908 

2,719 

629 

4,015 

19,925 

2,435 

27,215 

1,656 

4,560 

2,352 

22,298 

1,346 

305 

833 

271 

8,524 

16,227 

4,672 

7,686 

4,834 

956 

2,554 

2,713.9 

4,217.2 

722.1 

2,497.4 

563.7 

36,723.9 

2,057.1 

16,945.9 

23,745.6 

4,402.9 

1,444.7 

17,746.8 

231.6 

2,839.1 

390.4 

273.0 

4,010.9 

1,184.2 

7,143.9 

3,731.8 

4,044.1 

6,607.9 

831.8 

164.8 

2,179.8 

2,133.4 

Number of 
enterprises 

577,302 

818,647 

386,186 

80,924 

1,240,393 

3,104,703 

422,804 

124,525 

887,090 

3,124,962 

428,436 

4,441,494 

217,420 

877,989 

372,647 

296,997 

41,553 

136,099 

55,412 

2,057,022 

2,668n.a.64 

1,230,185 

633,288 

878,818 

185,936 

600,952 

23,221,784 

71.9 

75.7 

77.9 

81.3 

80.7 

80.1 

81.9 

66.3 

69.5 

78.4 

74.0 

69.7 

80.2 

78.2 

64.8 

79.0 

74.8 

77.0 

81.1 

82.9 

76.7 

77.5 

68.5 

82.2 

77.9 

76.7 

74.6 

EU27 

100 

193,458 

162,619.1. 

Note: % of EU workforce for EU27 has been rounded to 100%. 

Source: Eurostat, Employment and activity by sex and age – annual data [LFSI_EMP_A__custom_4546821]; 
Employees by sex, age and educational attainment level (1 000) [LFSA_EEGAED__custom_6398050], accessed 
31 May 2023 

156 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Annex 7: Network of Eurofound Correspondents 

National correspondents who contributed to this report. 

Member 
State 
AT 
BE 

BG 

CY 
CZ 

DE 

DK 
EE 
EL 

ES 

FI 

FR 

HR 

HU 
IE 

IT 

LT 
LU 
LV 

MT 

NL 

PL 

PT 

RO 

SE 

SI 

SK 

Correspondent(s) 

Bernadette Allinger 
Dries Van Herreweghe 
Ekaterina Ribarova 
Gabriela Yordanova 
Pavlos Kalosinatos 
Sona Veverkova 

Sandra Vogel 
Mona Aranea 
Carsten Jorgensen 
Ingel Kadarik 
Elena Kousta 
Oscar Molina Romo 
Pablo Sanz 
Amanda Kinnunen 
Vera Lindstrom 
Frédéric Turlan 

Predrag Bejakovic 
Irena Klemencic 

Nóra Krokovay 
David Murphy 
Lisa Dorigatti 
Barbara De Micheli 
Inga Blaziene 
Franz Clément 
Krišs Karnītis 
Louis Grech 
Luke Fiorini 
Amber van der Graaf 
Thomas de Winter 
Barbara Surdykowska 
Ewelina Wolosik 
Reinhard Naumann 
Boboc Cristina 
Ghita Simona 
Vasile Valentina 
Victoria Stoiciu 
Nicoleta Voicu 
Sirin Celik 
Nils Brandsma 
Barbara Lužar 
Ludovit Cziria 
Daniela Keselova 

Organisation 

Working Life Research Centre 
HIVA Research Institute, KU Leuven 
Institute of Social and Trade Union Research 
Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences 
Cyprus Labour Institute – Pancyprian Federation of Labour 
Research Institute for Labour and Social Affairs 

German Economic Institute 
Institute for Economic and Social Research, Hans Boeckler Foundation 
FAOS, University of Copenhagen 
Praxis Centre for Policy Studies  
GSEE Labour Institute 
Institute for Labour Studies, Autonomous University of Barcelona 
Notus Investigación Social Aplicada 

Oxford Research AB 

IR Share 

Institute of Public Finance 

Kopint-Tárki Institute for Economic Research 
IRN Publishing 
Department of Social and Political Sciences, University of Milan 
Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini S.R.L SB 
Lithuanian Social Research Centre 
Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research 
EPC Ltd 

University of Malta 

Panteia BV 

Foundation Institute of Public Affairs 
ECORYS Polska 
CESIS – Centre for Studies on Social Intervention 

European Institute of Romania 

Oxford Research AB 

Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana 

Institute for Labour and Family Research 

157 

 
 
Getting in touch with the EU 

In person 

All over the European Union there are hundreds of Europe Direct information centres. You can find the address of 
the centre nearest you at: https://european-union.europa.eu/contact-eu_en 

On the phone or by email 

Europe Direct is a service that answers your questions about the European Union. You can contact this service: 

–  by freephone: 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (certain operators may charge for these calls) 

–  at the following standard number: +32 22999696 

–  by email via: https://european-union.europa.eu/contact-eu_en 

Finding information about the EU 

Online 

Information about the European Union in all the official languages of the EU is available on the Europa website at: 
https://europa.eu  

EU publications 

You can download or order free and priced EU publications at: https://op.europa.eu/publications                    
Multiple copies of free publications may be obtained by contacting Europe Direct or your local information centre 
(see https://european-union.europa.eu/contact-eu_en). 

EU law and related documents 

For access to legal information from the EU, including all EU law since 1952 in all the official language versions, 
go to EUR-Lex at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu 

Open data from the EU 

The EU Open Data Portal (https://data.europa.eu) provides access to datasets from the EU. Data can be 
downloaded and reused for free, both for commercial and non-commercial purposes.

EF/22/020

 
 
This study provides information to allow for an 
assessment of the representativeness of the 
national and supranational social partners at 
cross-industry level in the EU. Their relative 
representativeness legitimises their right to be 
consulted, their role and effective participation in 
the European cross-industry social dialogue, and 
their capacity to negotiate agreements. 

The aim of Eurofound’s representativeness studies 
is to identify the relevant national and European 
social partner organisations in the field of 
industrial relations in selected sectors in the                        
EU Member States. This study identified ETUC, 
BusinessEurope, SMEunited and SGI Europe as the 
most representative social partner organisations  
at cross-industry level in the EU. 

The European Foundation for the Improvement of 
Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) is a 
tripartite European Union Agency established in 
1975. Its role is to provide knowledge in the area 
of social, employment and work-related policies 
according to Regulation (EU) 2019/127.

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ISBN 978-92-897-2374-9 
doi:10.2806/92075